Annie and Auggie: Fifty Things
by DemonClowSorceress
Summary: The tenth! installment of my popular Fifty Things stories! Annie and Auggie, bring it on home! Rated K plus for whatever may appear. COMPLETE!
1. Prompts

**Annie and Auggie: Fifty Things**

**By: DemonClowSorceress**

**For the monumental reaching of the tenth installment, I present...Fifty Things about that adorable CIA pair, Annie and Auggie!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own _Covert Affairs_ or any of the characters. A shame, since Auggie is so hot.**

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><p>#1 - Greeting<p>

Their morning exchanges were always light and playful.

#2 - Perfume

His first whiff of Jo Malone grapefruit should've been his first clue - he'd grow to like this girl.

#3 - Whisper

Her world could be exploding around her, and the sound of his voice in her ear always managed to center her.

#4 - Laugh

It sounded musical, and it always made him smile.

#5 - Shell

She took the bracelet out of its box and, with some reservation, put it in his palm.

#6 - Fleeting

Sometimes, when he's still half-asleep, he thinks he can see again.

#7 - Sugarplum

"Really? Nothing else came to mind?"

#8 - Heels

Her footsteps are unmistakable.

#9 - Driving

"I can't see the speedometer, but I have this feeling we're going very very fast."

#10 - Cujo

"Here, booze," he said, handing her a beer. "Woof."

#11 - Patrón

When work especially sucked, they skipped beers and went for the hard liquor.

#12 - Homeless

When she showed up on his doorstep, he immediately pulled her inside.

#13 - Allen's

It quickly became a good place for them to hang.

#14 - Aunt

"Where's Aunt Annie?"

#15 - Jai

He could see the writing on the wall, but he just kept pushing it.

#16 - Uncle

"Where's Uncle Auggie?"

#17 - Winter

Snow made everything too quiet. Auggie hated it.

#18 - Hearn

She was there when the fallout threatened to crush him.

#19 - Mingus

People can connect over music. They proved it on their first day.

#20 - Frantic

"I'm not losing you, Annie Walker! Not today, and not ever!"

#21 - Arm

Being his guide had its benefits. But mostly she liked how she felt standing beside him.

#22 - Mercer

He was there when his capture made her heart shatter all over again.

#23 - Couple

Annie used to envy people who'd found their "soulmate."

#24 - Lost

Joan used to think Auggie would never truly be all there. But when Annie showed up, it was like seeing the prodigal son return.

#25 - Imagination

After three years, he tried to picture her with the little details he's heard of and picked up on.

#26 - Juvenile

They bickered like kids with crushes, but when push came to shove, they grew up fast.

#27 - Techs

Stu, Greg, and Barber could all tell that something was brewing with Auggie.

#28 - Visible

"The blind guy leading the damsel out of the dark tunnels," Auggie joked as he took Annie's hand. "You want to say it or should I?"

#29 - Tussle

They both learn something while sparring in the CIA gym.

#30 - Bruise

She hid her injuries from everyone else, but the blind guy had to go and blow her cover.

#31 - Straddle

That was a defining moment for them both.

#32 - Overload

"Auggie!" Annie shouted, seeing her best friend drop to the ground and clutch his head.

#33 - Distracting

For her, it was her eyes. For him, it was his hands.

#34 - Digits

_Time to see if this really does work, _Annie thought, flipping open the stolen satellite phone and punching in the number she knew by heart.

#35 - Antacid

She upped his heart attack quota by a good dozen every month since arriving at Langely.

#36 - Seperation

The seventh-floor bigwigs had no idea what they'd done.

#37 - Breakdown

It wasn't often that she could help him, and Annie would be damned if she let him push her away.

#38 - Headphones

And people really believed he was actually working.

#39 - Sixth

Swear to God that man was psychic sometimes.

#40 - Line

He hadn't found one he couldn't cross for her. Until now.

#41 - Workout

Watching him go up against the punching bag, Annie fervently hoped he never changed his routine.

#42 - Braille

He took her finger and dragged it across the paper. "It takes practice, believe me."

#43 - Glass

He looked in her general direction with uncanny accuracy. "What d'you mean, my walls are see-through?"

#44 - Snitch

"You totally told on me, didn't you."

#45 - Hero

He sometimes had to remind her of the good she did.

#46 - Bed

A girl could get used to waking up with silk sheets and a sexy geek.

#47 - World

There were some beautiful things out there, but nothing beat what was waiting at home.

#48 - Covert

They were - until the need to be no longer existed.

#49 - Languages

"Would it be too corny to say you have a talented tongue?"

#50 - Complete

Agent and handler, best friends, and after some time in denial, the only ones who could ever hope to fill the void in their hearts.

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><p><strong>Holy cheese in sticks, it's the tenth one. I can't believe it!<strong>

**So, like? Dislike? One-shots, anybody? **

**Review!**


	2. Greeting

**Disclaimer: I don't own _Covert Affairs_, else those new episodes would be on right now. Seriously.**

**Prompt #1: Greeting - Their morning exchanges were always light and playful.**

**Words: 778**

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><p>A few people see the sexy blonde CIA agent walk across the seal in the marble floor with her confident, kitten-heel-enhanced stride eating up the distance between the front doors and the elevator like fire. Another few people see the hunky blind head of Tech Ops walking along the hallway heading straight for the same elevator, his green laser cane mapping out his path. When they get close enough to see or, in his case, hear the other, identical smiles light up their faces.<p>

"Hey there, Auggie."

"Annie Walker, as I live and breathe. Back so soon from vacation?"

"You know how it is. You can't keep a good girl down."

"I hear that."

The exchange makes the tougher, grizzled agents of the DPD smile to themselves as the newest rookie agent and her handler head towards Tech Ops, her arm looped through his in a way that was purely casual and utterly adorable in its familiarity.

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><p>Ever since they first met, Annie and Auggie have started arriving at Langely very close to the same time as each other. They meet up in the lobby, exchange the pleasantries of good friends, then head down to the DPD arm-in-arm. In a job field of lies and unpredictability, their ritual is a very stable part of their turbulent lives.<p>

Some days there is more of a teasing edge to their banter. She pokes fun at his "walk of shame" and he purposely brings up Thursday night dinner-dates with Danielle and the Shmuck of the Week. Sometimes it's more serious; she walks in tired and sore from a previous mission, while he walks in morose from a thought that he'll never share with anybody.

A lot of deep and heavy stuff went on between them, but you wouldn't think that from hearing the way they greet each other in the mornings. They make sure to keep it bright and cheerful even when their moods are nowhere near those realms.

It's rare that they don't greet each other with a smile. The only time it's happened was when Auggie was performing his short-lived assignment in the Office of Congressional Affairs. They passed each other and made small talk, but the customary banter was gone. Annie was visibly upset by the loss, and those who still saw Auggie could tell that the geek wasn't as chipper as usual. When Auggie returned, everyone could tell that the world was righted again by the brilliant smile on Annie's face the next day.

A few of the cynics - agents who had seen it all, seen better cadets and techs crash and burn over and over, seen betrayal and lies and deception the world over - believed that it wouldn't last. That sooner or later, one or the other would say or do something to drive a wedge between them. Agents and their handlers, while expected to be close, never lasted too long if they were too close.

But no matter what had happened to them so far - old loves, surprise ops, or a simple thing like being blindsided by one's sudden promotion - this particular pair of agent and handler seemed to keep coming out on top.

She's a maverick and he's a hellion. Humor and sarcasm were their bread and butter, their sword and shield. It's worked for them, so far.

As has this morning ritual that now, many believe, has evolved into some sort of good-luck charm for the pair.

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><p>Some people pause when Annie Walker strolls into the DPD bullpen wearing that sexy power suit and those damn fine kitten heels, bearing two cups of piping hot coffee. They covertly watch her walk across the bullpen and head straight for the glass-walled Tech Ops where Auggie Anderson is hard at work, his headphones over his ears as his fingers fly over his Braille keyboard.<p>

"Knock, knock," Annie says teasingly as she hip-checks her handler.

His smile is bright as sunshine as he removes his headphones. "Annie? And is that coffee I smell with you?"

"That it is. Your nine o'clock."

"You're an angel of mercy."

She laughs. "I bet you say that to all the Starbucks baristas."

His reply comes with a chuckle. "Only the ones who deliver."

Their back-and-forth gives the rest of the agents a reason to smile as they returned to work. Just another morning in the DPD.

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><p><strong>Yay! Let's get going!<strong>

**Review please!**


	3. Perfume

**Disclaimer: I don't own _Covert Affairs._**

**Prompt #2: His first whiff of Jo Malone grapefruit should've been his first clue - he'd grow to like this girl.**

**Words: 649**

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><p>Auggie liked to think of himself as a cross between Daredevil and Jason Bourne, minus the amnesia problems and that whole on-the-run thing. But lately he identified more with the superhero than the spy simply because his heightened senses were a more integral part of his life.<p>

Don't be misled, he could still kick ass if need be. A couple musclemen could attest to that. He just used his senses more than his strength nowadays. Being blind, his other senses had developed pretty incredible levels of sensitivity.

The most useful one was his hearing. His brothers joked that he was now half-bat, and he used this skill for both good and evil. He could hear a whisper through the open door of Tech Ops, and he could hear a normally-spoken conversation from across the DPD if he chose to strain his ears to their limit. Voices, laughs, and footsteps were all easily discernable to his ears. This made him an incredibly difficult person to sneak up on or to talk about.

Next was his sense of touch. His fingertips could discern anything to what his Braille readout strip was telling him to what fabric the clothes in his hands was made from. The addition of Braille labels gave him the gift of choosing what colors to wear without looking like a paint shop post-tornado. He could run his hands over a wall or a table and, if he'd touched it before, place himself exactly where he needed to be in relation to it.

But the one he's come to rely on the most in his day-to-day life is his ability to smell. Everyone he knew was a special blend of scents that helped him know when someone approached. He had an extensive mental catalog of who wore what especially for the people he dealt with every single day.

The guys weren't that hard to differenciate. Jai always wore some kind of cologne that made his nose sting. Arthur had a cologne that was so subtle it was barely there. His techs smelled like starch, hair gel, and a waft of sweat mixed with Old Spice and Axe, depending on who it was.

The women he interacted with had a more varied scent range. Bea's perfume of choice was overwhelmingly strong. Joan's, like her husband's, was barely there, a cool scent that was as elusive as a whisper by a waterfall. Annie was a light waft of Jo Malone Grapefruit.

He didn't really have favorites. You couldn't in this line of work; too many changes in agents due to burnout, death, or just plain politics. However, he'd recently shown a preference for a specific scent, a specific walk, and a specific laugh.

Grapefruit. Kitten heels. A laugh without description.

In short? Annie.

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><p>"Auggie? Auggie!"<p>

He was jolted from his thoughts by a light laugh and a whiff of Jo Malone Grapefruit. "Annie?"

Her laugh echoed again, this time accompanied by the familiar walk of a certain pair of kitten heels. "Don't pretend you didn't know it was me."

"Okay then." An easy grin found its way across his lips. "What's going on, Walker?"

As she filled him in on the debrief he'd missed, Auggie let his senses soak in all that made up Annie Walker. Heard the whisper of her unbound hair against the fabric of her suit. Smelled the barely-there traces of grapefruit she carried in with her. Recalled the skin his fingers could trail over when they trained in hand-to-hand combat.

He'd never see her, but he'd _seen _her in every other way but one.

He really wanted to find out what he'd learn with his sense of taste.

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><p><strong>*Edited for typos and missing words.<strong>

**Okay then, here we go!**

**Review some more, please!**


	4. Whisper

**Disclaimer: I don't own _Covert Affairs_, else I'd have my own Auggie. And all you drooling fangirls would be sooooo jealous!**

**Prompt #3: Whisper - Her world could be exploding around her, and the sound of his voice in her ear always managed to center her.**

**Words: 809**

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><p>Gunfire was tearing up the hotel room, forcing Annie to take cover under the bed. "Auggie, I'm pinned in here!" she shouted over the noise of breaking glass and shredding fabrics. "I need a way out. Now."<p>

"_Hang tight Walker, extraction team's moving in,_" he said calmly.

"Make them hurry! I don't have a lot of cover that'll last much longer." Another round made her curl up in a ball, shielding her body from the shards of glass that were slicing the bedroom furniture to shreds.

"_Just stay calm and keep low._"

"That last part's going to happen pretty definitely," she replied. "Can't exactly stay calm with little metal slugs flying through the air at a thousand feet per second."

His chuckle, while morbid and inappropriate, helped lighten the mood a tad. Annie kept herself centered on that chuckle. She knew that as long as she kept her head - and her body out of the line of fire - she'd survive.

The sniper must've brought a friend along, because now there was gunfire coming from the other side of the room. Annie ducked under the bed again, cursing loudly. "There's another one!" she told Auggie. "I'm back under the bed. Where's the team?"

"_They're taking fire too. Apparently your two friends have another friend. Just hang on, they're making their way up as fast as possible._"

Reflex made her duck again. "Why does this always happen to me?" she muttered to herself.

"_I guess the universe likes throwing chaos at you._"

"Har har har. I'm rolling my eyes at you, smartass."

"_Tut tut, Walker. Such language._"

A burst of bullets ripped through the mattress, and the blonde spy felt something hot tear her shoulder. "Shit!" she shouted, clutching the wound and feeling her blood well up through her shoulders.

"_Annie! Annie, talk to me!_" came Auggie's barely audible call. She could hear the undercurrent of panic, but for the most part he was level as an empty balance. "_You gotta talk to me, okay? I gotta know you're okay._"

"Bullet tore open a big hole in my hiding place. Grazed my shoulder." She glanced at the door of the hotel room, her only way out - and almost fifteen feet of space between her and it. "Could sure use that back-up anytime now."

"_They're two minutes from you. Just stay low._" Another chuckle invaded her ear, but this one sounded more forced than its predecessor. "_Don't get shot, Walker. I don't feel like housebreaking another agent._"

Now Annie let out an inappropriate laugh. "_You_ housebroke _me_? Don't make me laugh. I'm the one who talked you out of your office for the first time."

"_And got me barefoot in a morgue._"

"Still using that one as a comeback?"

"_Don't call it a comeback,_" he quipped. "_Besides, it's got history._"

"Whatever. Point is, I'm the reason you started getting your feet wet in fieldwork again."

"_Which is why you have to come back. Now that I'm used to this much adrenaline, a newbie won't even get my blood pressure going_."

"Unless she's hot, easy, and pretends to like Mingus. Oh, and has a pulse."

"_You really have no confidence in my taste in women, do you?_"

A part of Annie realized the strangeness of the situation - she was pinned down by sniper fire as hell practically took up residence around her, and she was shooting the breeze with her best friend slash handler like they were trading smack in his office back at Tech Ops. But the familiarity was soothing in a way. She wasn't panicking over her wound or the fact that she was cheating death. With Auggie in her corner, she could face down anything.

The gunshot wound was beginning to really hurt. Sucking her breath in, Annie wiggled so that she could see the door of the hotel room. _Very soon, _she told herself. _They'll be here soon. Just gotta hang in there until the cavalry arrives._

In less than eighty seconds, they were hustling her down the steps and into a van, speeding for a safe location. The last thing she heard was Auggie's voice. "_Alright Walker, just take a breather. You're safe. You're coming home._"

And coming from him, Annie knew it would happen. Auggie never lied to her.

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><p><strong>It's true, you know. The universe <em>loves <em>throwing all this chaos at Annie. Then again, that's what makes it great to watch.**

**It's been a while, but you know the drill. Review please!**


	5. Laugh

**Disclaimer: I don't own _Covert Affairs._**

**Prompt #4: Laugh - It sounded musical, and it always made him smile.**

**Words: 407**

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><p>"...so there we were, creeping stark naked through the motor pool at two in the morning, in the freezing ass-cold of November. Hey, this is a serious story!" Auggie interjected, hearing his listener's laugh suddenly grow in volume and mirth.<p>

"You can't tell me that the great Captain August Anderson would be such a ninny and get tricked that easy." Annie could barely breathe past all her laughter. "You just can't. You're too smart for that."

The compliment made him grin a little. "One, I wasn't a captain yet, I was still in boot camp. Two, I was nineteen, Annie. I thought I could take it."

"Didn't growing up with brothers teach you anything about trickery?"

"This was more subtle then I was used to. Why do I even bother?" he sighed with mock defeat. "You obviously have no understanding of hazing."

Annie gasped for air. "I'm sorry," she said with a trace of true contrition. "Please continue. What happened next?"

"Well, we managed to tag the gunny's car and crack a few eggs on the windshield, so we started heading back to the barracks. But what we didn't know was that we'd been locked out of the barracks by the rest of the idiots in there. It's not funny!"

She couldn't catch her breath, she was laughing so damn hard. Weakness made her lean against him as oxygen deprivation made her gasp for more air. "No, it - it really is," she wheezed. "What - what happened next?"

"Lucky for us suckers outside, I knew how to pick a lock. So we managed to get inside without getting frostbite." His story finished, Auggie crossed his arms and pouted. "I'm never telling you another of my traumatic life-lesson stories again. You take too much pleasure in my pain."

Taking a log, steadying breath, Annie said, "I'm smiling at you, Auggie. And no, I'm just surprised to learn there was once this gullible side to you."

"And you're only too ready to use this as blackmail, aren't you?"

That comment let loose another peal of laughter, making Annie lean against him once again for support. His own grin winning over the pout, Auggie joined in laughing with his best friend.

Maybe he'd tell another story like it. He liked hearing her laugh.

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><p><strong>Fluffy friendship bit there. Enjoy!<strong>

**And review! Do that too!**


	6. Shell

**Disclaimer: I don't own _Covert Affairs._**

**Prompt #5: Shell - She took the bracelet out of its box and, with some reservation, put it in his palm.**

**Words: 363**

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><p>I bite my lip, nervous about taking it out again. Last time I did, I ended up in Sri Lanka again dodging angry men with big guns.<p>

This thing's brought me nothing but turmoil since Ben and I bought the matching set that long-ago day on the beach. After that, I locked it away and only brought it out when it was necessary. Then it went right back into that box.

Until now.

He asked to see it. I can't deny him that. He knows I still have it anyway. So I get it, and reluctantly I give it to him.

There's a bit of a mulling-over period before he asks me, "Are you sure about this?"

Am I sure? No! I've had it forever. It's been a grounding force for me ever since Ben left me in that beach shack.

But I've got to move on. I know this. It's necessary to do this.

I already burned the note. That was cathartic.

I nod. "Yes."

Those fingers slowly close over the leather and white shells, and once the sight of them disappears, I find that I can suddenly breathe easier. He slips the bracelet into his pocket. "Annie, I know this is tough for you - "

"I'll get over it," I say quickly.

I don't know why I lie to him. He's CIA-trained, for God's sake.

"Annie, you don't have to put on a brave face about this."

"No, I'm - I've moved on," I tell him, and it's true. I have moved on. Once that bracelet goes, I'll have nothing left to tie me back to that time, that place, that girl I'd been...and this man in front of me.

Ben smiles fondly as he pockets the bracelet. "If that's your decision..."

"It is."

He nods. "Tell Anderson he's one lucky bastard."

I smile. "Take care of yourself, Ben."

"You too, and that man of yours."

"I will, trust me."

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><p><strong>Nice little twist we had there!<strong>

**Review please!**


	7. Fleeting

**Disclaimer: I don't own _Covert Affairs._**

**Prompt #6: Fleeting - Sometimes, when he's still half-asleep, he thinks he can see again.**

**Words: 582**

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><p>Phantom images.<p>

Flashes.

Dreams.

All the little things the doctors had warned him about.

_Might seem like...will appear that...might present itself as..._

Words, medical words, just words that skate over the general issue.

_Your body will try to trick you_.

It's happened. He's gone through it.

Sometimes it's just for a moment. He'll think he sees a flash - an honest-to-God flash of light, just out of the corner of his eye - but only blackness greets him when he swings around to look.

Most often, sight returns in his dreams. The earliest ones were of the explosion, and the hours leading up to it. Those had him jack-knifing upright in bed, breathing hard and doused in a cold sweat, his unseeing eyes wide in the darkness. As they abated, he found himself dreaming of being back with his family in Illinois, seeing the faces of his parents and siblings as he'd last seen them.

Then the dreams began to mosey away from memories and forayed into the realm of fantasy. His unconscious mind, being as tricksy as he was when he's conscious, tried to conjure up images he's sure can't really be true. Faces of the women he brings home. Faces of new people he's just met. Colors, shapes, things he's begun to forget just because he hasn't been able to compare the then to the now.

Hearing and smell and touch can only get a guy so much information. Sight? Now that's the big one.

Reading expressions in one's eyes and face is what he misses. That's the big thing. You can tell a lot about someone's emotions by how their face shifts in the silence. He can only guess at what emotion the silence holds, and even then he can guess wrong. And the worst is that, without a facial expression to go on, he's never sure how people look at him.

But in the dreams, he sees. He sees expressions. He sees emotions. He sees everything. And it's amazing. Like walking out of a dream. Like he was never hurt in the first place.

Sometimes, when he's rousing himself from sleep, he still believes that he can see. It's a half-thought, a tease left over from dreamworld before reality comes in and rudely slaps his face. Then the blackness sets in, and he's left to face another day with those pesky dreams still floating around in his mind.

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><p>"Auggie?"<p>

He blinks. "Annie? What's up?"

"You looked a little lost. You all right?"

Had he? He'd been pondering again, he figures. "Just thinking about stuff."

"Did you hear my question?"

Not really. "If I said I did?"

"And you call me a bad liar?"

He smiles easily at her. "All right, smarty-pants. I wasn't paying attention. What were you saying?"

Annie starts talking again, chattering about how she hopes to bridge the gap between her and Danielle. Auggie sits back and listens, falling back to think about certain things he wants to see again. His family. His car. His own reflection.

And he thinks, quite randomly, that he'd like to see Annie Walker with his own two eyes just once.

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><p><strong>Was anyone else SUPREMELY ticked by the season finale? I know I was!<strong>

**Review please!**


	8. Sugarplum

**Disclaimer: I don't own _Covert Affairs._**

**Prompt #7: Sugarplum - "Really? Nothing else came to mind?"**

**Words: 962**

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><p>This could not keep happening to her. It was starting to get ridiculous.<p>

Once again, Annie Walker found herself relying on Auggie Anderson to bail her rookie ass out of a sticky situation.

But this time, it wasn't during an op, thank God. It was just a guy who didn't know the meaning of "no" one night at Allen's. A new face among the patrons, he'd immediately tried to hit on Annie. The blonde was sitting alone because she'd been waiting for Auggie to return, so this made her the target for the new guy's unwanted affection. She was just considering slamming him senseless when a familiar voice drawled behind her, "Something the matter, sugarplum?"

Well, at least Auggie wasn't half-naked this time.

She tried not to pant or swoon when she felt his corded arm tighten around her waist protectively. It was a supreme effort of willpower. "Hey babe," she said, glancing up at him. "Nothing's wrong. Just met someone new."

"That so?" he said casually, his sightless eyes focused on a spot just above her mark's left shoulder. "Who's your friend?"

"This is Brad," she said by way of introduction. "He's an FBI agent, apparently. He was just showing me his badge and gun." Code translation: douche was hitting on me and wants to get into my pants.

Auggie apparently translated correctly. One eyebrow raised in surprise and mild irritation. "That so?" he repeated.

"But I told him, I'm not that impressed by a badge," Annie said, creeping her hand up his chest and feeling every muscle she touched tense up. "I like my soldier boy just fine."

Brad peaced out, apparently intimidated by Auggie as she'd intended. Auggie's lips twisted into a pleased smile. "Soldier boy?"

"Well, you are." Annie suddenly noticed that her hand had been absently fiddling with the buttons of his shirt. Blushing red, she let out the breath she'd been holding and tried to move away from Auggie, but she underestimated his arm strength and just how fast he was. His hand clamped onto her wrist as it pulled away, holding it captive just above his heart. "And where do you think you're going, Walker?" he said.

"To get you another beer," she said easily.

"Mind telling me why you were feeling me up?"

_Crap. _"Brad looked back," she lied. "I was trying to sell it. Men are all about the visual." The words tumbled out before her filter managed to catch them. _Double crap!_

"That so?" _I am in sooooo much trouble now, _Annie barely had time to think. Auggie leaned down and whispered in her ear, "That's a matter of preference. I learn better with my body, personally."

"I bet you do," she managed to choke out. Even though he was her best friend, Annie was still a hot-blooded woman who could fully appreciate the incredibly toned and fit body of her handler/crush. Noticing that they were beginning to draw some stares, Annie guided them both back into their booth.

"Three, by the way."

She frowned, confused. "Three?"

Auggie's grin was pure melted chocolate hiding poison. "Times I've physically saved your butt."

"I'm frowning at you, Auggie." For good measure, she punched his arm. "And I can only remember two times, that time at the Farm party and that time with Chloe's class trip."

"The morgue," he replied instantly.

It was a sad comment on Annie's life that she knew exactly what he was talking about. "No way! I had that totally under control."

"Please. If I hadn't been there you would've had a hell of a harder time explaining yourself."

Annie pouted at him despite the futility of the gesture. "You're incorrigible, you know that?"

"I do now, Annie darlin'."

_Well, _she told her rapidly racing heart, _at least he didn't say sugarplum again. I don't think I can handle that right now_.

He spoke again, clear jest in his voice. "Sugarplum? You all right?"

She laughed, then lightly socked Auggie's chest. "You need to come up with some new pet names."

"Now why would I do that? This one has history behind it."

"Because saying we had sex in the training officer's office is a great story behind the use of 'sugarplum' as a pet name."

"I like it," Auggie said honestly. "Makes me think of the Sugar Plum Fairy."

Annie's brows rose to almost her hairline. "One, never would have pegged you for a _Nutcracker _fan. And two, why her? Why not Clara?"

Her handler grinned again. "One, Clara's big claim was that she beaned the Mouse King with her slipper. You'd never sacrifice your precious Louboutin heels like that." Annie scowled and smacked his chest playfully. "And two, the Sugar Plum Fairy is poised and elegant and strong. Strong enough to rule when the Nutcracker Prince is gone."

The compliment made Annie's cheeks glow. "She's not alone though, when she dances at the end. You forget that she's got her Cavalier."

Auggie shrugged. "That's true. She's never truly alone."

Annie felt the soft, secret smile uncurl on her lips as she scooted closer to her best friend. Her handler. The Cavalier to her Sugar Plum Fairy.

Suddenly the pet name sounded so much better, and she wanted him to say it again.

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><p><strong>Nearing holidays plus late night plus cute nickname equals Nutcracker reference! Not intended, but I liked where this went!<strong>

**Review please!**


	9. Heels

**Disclaimer: I don't own _Covert Affairs, _but I will take ownership of my OC.**

**Prompt #8: Heels - Her footsteps are unmistakable.**

**Words: 568**

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><p>One thing that sucked about being blind - sometimes Auggie could get tricked. It really didn't happen often, but when it did, it threw him for a loop.<p>

So when he heard footsteps he recognized in footwear that didn't match what he recalled as normal, he was understandably confused. Taking off his headphones, he concentrated harder. He couldn't tell if it was the right shoes but the wrong footsteps or vice versa. But one thing he knew was that they were definitely heels.

Frowning slightly, he hedged, "Annie?"

"Nope," came the bubbly voice of Clara, the new tech girl. "Just me, sir. I have the files you wanted."

"Oh, okay. Thanks Clara," he said, still a little surprised that he could mistake his newest tech for his favorite agent. They had very different personalities and voices, not to mention footsteps and perfume choices. Annie was a trace of Jo Malone Grapefruit, while Clara was a bare whiff of pomegranate lotion.

There was a small pause, then those confusing footsteps echoed again. "You okay?" she asked, sounding a little concerned.

"Yeah. Just...tired," Auggie replied.

"You normally can tell it's me, if you don't mind me saying so."

He shook his head. "I don't mind, and you're right. I don't know what's wrong with me today. Did you get new shoes or something?"

"Actually, yeah. They're stiletto heels. I'm trying to get used to them."

Stilettos. That explained a lot. Clara usually stuck to low-heeled pumps or sneakers, if she could get away with the latter around Tech Ops. Annie usually wore stilettos, which is why he had the minor moment of confusion.

"Ah," Clara said after a few minutes of silence. "You thought I was Annie Walker."

Caught, Auggie fell on a time-honored tradition and tried to talk his way out. "What? No, I just - Annie normally comes around right about now, so I assumed you were her."

"Uh-huh," said the tech, not sounding like she bought a word. "Right. And you're just caring because, what? You're just friends?"

And she was treading dangerous territory that Auggie was trying not to think about. "Getting a bit fresh there, Piper," Auggie said with a hint of grin to show he was teasing. "You wanna take the Croatian cipher that's been sitting around for the last two days?"

"Didn't you get that memo? Decrypted and translated yesterday," she fired back.

Auggie gave a mock groan. "I've trained a monster."

"Clara Piper, monster cryptographer and hacker. Grr," she said teasingly. "But on a serious note, Annie should be back soon. Don't worry about it."

True to her words, four hours later, Auggie heard the familiar click-click-click sound of a pair of Louboutins making their way to his office. Now he knew without a doubt who they belonged to.

"Hey Annie," he called when the footsteps crossed his threshold. "Have a good time in Aspen?"

An exasperated sigh escaped her. "Geez Auggie, how do you always know it's me?"

"Talent, my dear, lots of talent," was his glib reply.

Through another doorway, he could hear Clara snort something that sounded vaguely like "_Bullshit_."

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><p><strong>And yet another OC is born! Geez, they just pop up like daisies!<strong>

**Review please!**


	10. Driving

**Disclaimer: I don't own _Covert Affairs._**

**Prompt #9: Driving - "I can't see the speedometer, but I have this feeling we're going very very fast."**

**Words: 411**

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><p>"Annie?"<p>

"Yes Auggie?"

"How fast are we going?"

"Do you have to ask me that now?"

"Yes. I can't feel my stomach in the vicinity of my abdominal area, and that only happens when I'm moving at rollarcoaster speeds. How fast are we going?"

PING! BANG! PING! PING!

"Not fast enough to outrun bullets, Aug. Hang on!"

"HOLY SHIIIII - Annie, don't do that again!"

"You don't even know what I did!"

"If that wasn't a hairpin curve, then I'm a unicorn."

"Awww, how manly of you. You'd make a cute unicorn."

"Please tell me how fast we're going."

PING! PING!

"Can I outrace and lose the gunmen trying to riddle us with holes first?"

"...Yes, by all means, defy the laws of physics and save our asses. Just don't kill us."

"Roger."

"..."

"Aw crap, hold on!"

"What are you - JESUS, ANNIE!"

"What, Auggie? That wasn't so bad!"

"I felt the car tip! Tip, Annie! _On two wheels_!"

"You've pulled worse stunts in a car chase, I'm sure."

"Not in a little toy car!"

"What's wrong with this car?"

"My knees are in my face, Annie!"

"It's a MINI, Auggie, what am I supposed to do? I got assigned this car for my cover. It's not my fault you're so blasted tall."

"Whatever. Now answer me."

"Answer what?"

"How fast are we OH DEAR GOD!...Annie, tell me we did not just blow through a crazy intersection."

"Why?"

"Because I heard a very disturbing number of car horns blaring as we raced on by."

"Fine, we did not just blow through a crazy intersection."

"Liar."

"Why do you care?"

"Why are you avoiding the question?"

"It's irrelevent. It's behind us now...Oh shit."

"Well, that's comforting to hear. Mind telling the blind guy how he's about to die?"

"We're not going to die, Auggie! Just hang on tight and shut up!"

"Annie, please don't kill us. Joan won't like it if she has to replace us."

"Stop whining!"

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><p><strong>Lolz, car chase scene plus A2 bickering makes for a fun ficlet.<strong>

**Review please!**


	11. Cujo

**Disclaimer: I don't own _Covert Affairs _or episide 1x04 "No Quarter."**

**Prompt #10: Cujo - "Here, booze," he said, handing her a beer. "Woof."**

**Words: 1,022**

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><p>The deepest groan in existance emanated from next to Auggie, like a wounded buffalo had dropped from exhaustion. "Well, that was not a happy sound," he remarked.<p>

"My day sucked," was Annie's reply. "Epic suckage."

"Sorry to hear that," he said. "Austria normally isn't that bad."

"I think the universe is out to get me." Another low groan escaped her lips. "How else do you explain all the messed-up stuff that happens whenever I go into the field?"

Auggie shrugged. "Murphy's Law."

She chuckled mirthlessly. "The law that states that anything that can go wrong, will go wrong."

"And at the worst possible moment," Auggie added.

"This is not cheering me up, Auggie."

His sightless brown eyes narrowed slightly. "Okay, there's something else up with you. What is it?"

"Nothing."

"Please. CIA-trained and you still can't lie to me?"

Her voice took on a peeved edge. "Just drop it Auggie, okay? Leave me alone."

_Now _he knew something was definitely wrong. Annie sometimes went out of her way to not snap at him. But knowing her as well as he did, Auggie didn't pry. He just took a sip of his beer and waited. The night was young, and she was his ride home. Sooner or later, the truth would come out.

To his surprise, she didn't crack. The rest of the evening passed with relative speed, and she dropped him off at his place around midnight. Auggie burned to ask her what the deal was, but his sense of privacy and their friendship prevented him from asking.

Her, anyway. Nothing in the friendship code said anything about asking someone else.

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><p>"Auggie, this is a nice surprise!"<p>

He smiled easily. "Hey Danielle. Am I bothering you?"

"No, no! Please come in!"

"I won't stay long." Auggie strolled into the kitchen, from the smell of it, and paid special attention to where he was stepping. Danielle guided him to the table and set about brewing fresh coffee. "Just stopped in to ask you something."

"It's about Annie, right?"

Another smooth grin. "You're right about that. She's been a bit off for the last few days. I was wondering if you knew anything about it."

Danielle's soft chuckle almost made him shiver and sniff for grapefruit, it was so similar to Annie's. "Yeah, she's going through a rough patch."

"Regarding?"

The housewife sighed. "It's kind of may fault. I tried to set her up with a guy before she left for her trip, but the date bombed."

Auggie frowned. "That doesn't sound as bad as you're making it out to be. What aren't you saying?"

"He stood her up, Auggie. She was waiting for almost three hours in the restaurant and he never showed." Danielle sounded so apologetic and guilty. "And then, he tried to call back and explain, but his idiot ass made the mistake of calling from the bar across the street where he was on a date with another woman. Annie saw him leave with the other woman - Auggie, calm down."

"I am calm," he lied professionally, knowing that he showed no anger on his face.

A finger tapped the back of his hand. "Your death grip on your coffee cup says different. Your knuckles are bone white." Immediately he let go, worried that he'd break the cup. "Auggie, I get it. You care about my sister."

"Course I do. She's my best friend," Auggie replied in a voice that conveyed that he believed his words.

"I'm a mom, Auggie, meaning my Bullshit Meter works just fine. You care about my sister more than you're letting on, but that's beside the point," she said before he could say anything else. "My point is, don't push her please? I sort of promised her that I wouldn't tell you."

_What? _"Why?"

"Just don't breathe a word to Annie. Please."

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><p>Annie knew when she walked into Auggie's office on Monday that he'd talked to Danielle. He sucked at hiding that kind of thing from her, and Danielle admitted that she'd told the handsome blind handler the bare details.<p>

What did surprise her was the growl that rumbled through his gritted teeth as he said, "Forget about him, Annie. He's not worth the brain fart."

The only thing that she could think of was _Enter Auggie, my protective __St. Bernard. _What came out of her mouth was, "Whoa, down, Cujo."

"Please. I can make Cujo look like a puppy tripping over its own paws," Auggie stated.

"Auggie, he stood me up and lied to me. It's not like he stole my virginity under false pretenses. You don't need to defend my honor."

"I'm not mad about that. Not just that," he amended. "I'm mad because you didn't trust me enough to tell me what was bothering you. I had to ask Danielle."

The retort on her tongue died. _That's what really rankled him_, she realized. Not that the guy had snubbed her, but that she hadn't trusted Auggie enough to tell him. Which was ridiculous. She literally trusted Auggie with her life, time and time again, and yet she wouldn't tell him the reason why she was down in the dumps. _I have to get my priorities straight_.

"Auggie," she finally said, catching his attention before she moved closer. Leaning down, she pressed a light kiss to his cheek. "You're very protective, you know that?"

His regular smile uncurled on his lips. "Why Miss Walker, I do believe that's been mentioned once or twice."

And just like that, they were okay again.

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><p><strong>A throwaway comment from 1x04 made me think of this. That, and a buddy of mine is a Stephen King fan.<strong>

**Review please!**


	12. Patrón

**Disclaimer: I don't own _Covert Affairs._**

**Prompt #11: Patrón - When work especially sucked, they skipped beers and went for the hard liquor.**

**Words: 860**

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><p>"Oh, you have got to be kidding," snapped Annie, adding on a few Russian swears as she tore apart the cabinet for something that she already knew was not there. "Dammit! Auggie!"<p>

"What?" Auggie shouted back from the couch.

"You don't have any Patrón!"

He scoffed. "Lies, woman! I know for a fact that there's an unopened bottle of Patrón Silver in there."

Annie gestured pointlessly at the empty liquor cabinet. "I've torn this cabinet apart and moved everything, Auggie. Wherever this bottle of booze is, it's not in the usual place."

"That's not possible. I put it in there myself." She heard him walk into the kitchen and kneel down beside her without losing his balance or needing to orient himself. It was times like this that Annie could forget, for a brief moment, that he was blind. That he'd never see out of those warm, brown, St. Bernard-esque eyes again. "Are you messing with the blind man, Walker?"

She scowled at him. "I'm scowling at you, Auggie. No, I would not do that. There's booze involved, and that'd be unnecessarily cruel."

"Like you've never resorted to cruelty for a laugh."

"For the last time, wiseass, I never told Bea to hit on you. She made that play all on her own."

Rather than continue the childish argument, Auggie got to his feet and sighed. "Fine then. What booze do we have?"

Annie quickly took inventory. "We have rum, tequila, some decent vodka, a quarter-bottle of scotch, and a fair bit of bourbon." She reached over and opened the fridge. "As well as a six-pack of beer."

"Wow, we could survive the second Prohibition," remarked Auggie. "All right then, let's start the night out right. Shotglasses are in the upper cabinet. Limes are in the fridge."

"Look who's prepared," Annie teased with a grin. She grabbed the shotglasses and limes as Auggie picked up the tequila and led the way back to the couch.

"Boy Scouts, babe."

"Of course." Dropping beside him on the couch, Annie lined up the shotglasses. "Six glasses, all at your twelve o'clock. I'll pour."

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><p>In the span of two hours they were downing shots like they were water. The tequila was gone, and the vodka had been used in an interesting blend of mixed shots with the rum.<p>

Needless to say, the friendship line between Auggie and Annie was becoming seriously blurred as the night went on. She was leaning against him to stay upright, giggling madly like a schoolgirl, and his arm was wrapped tightly around her waist in a more-than-friend embrace with a goofy smile on his face.

Boundaries weren't the only things getting fuzzy; inhibitions were also being lost. If he was sober, Auggie would have never dared to be this bold. Annie was his best friend, and this tempted his control all the way to the cliffside of his desire. Likewise, Annie was pretty certain she wouldn't be pressing herself against her handler's body if she was clear-headed.

"Today sucked," she said, toying with her shot of scotch absently as she snuggled next to Auggie. "I mean, _reeeeeeeallly _sucked."

"Yeah," he replied eloquently. "Totally."

"Jai's such a bastard. Why'd he have to screw up so bad?"

"Dunno." Auggie shrugged, unintentionally jostling her as well. "He's a douche."

"Yeah." She looked up at Auggie with an affectionate expression on her face. "Your eyes are pretty," she giggled.

"I'd say the same, but I'd be lying through my teeth." With surprising accuracy, his hand reached up to caress her cheek. "I bet your eyes are beautiful."

Another giggle slipped through her lips. "Are you trying to seduce me, Mr. Anderson?" Annie asked coyly, ignoring all those pesky thoughts from the still-sober bit of her brain that screamed to _back off, stop now, don't risk it_...

"Maaaaaybeeee," he drawled lazily. He leaned closer to her face, almost brushing noses and close enough to feel her warm breath fan across his cheeks. "Would you be against my seducing you, Miss Walker?" he responded, ignoring his gentlemanly sense of _back off, not now, don't push it_...

Now that sobriety was beginning to make a reappearance, their feelings started to waver, seeking shelter from reality. It was harmless while they were intoxicated; there was always the chance that a confession could be passed off as drunken ramblings.

Then again, two years of suppressed emotions had to be let out somehow, and it was already peeking out of their carefully guarded hearts. There was no way to keep them from busting free, but there was a way to keep them from busting out completely.

"Auggie?"

"Yeah Annie?"

Teetering on the brink, and without another choice, they leaned forward to close the distance between them...

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><p><strong>Fluff! Ah, it gives me a fuzzy feeling!<strong>

**Review please!**


	13. Homeless

**Disclaimer: I don't own _Covert Affairs._**

**Prompt #12: Homeless - When she showed up on his doorstep, he immediately pulled her inside.**

**Words: 817**

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><p>It wasn't often that someone knocked on Auggie Anderson's door at eleven o'clock at night. Then again, it wasn't often that he went through the police ringer to cover for his best friend as she tried to save the world once again. Drained both physically and mentally, Auggie wanted to do nothing more than collapse on his bed and sleep for a few days straight.<p>

He thought about ignoring the caller. Play dead, so to speak, and let the person just walk away. It certainly had worked before for him. But something made him edge closer to the doorway to try and discern who it was.

He heard a sob. One brief, almost stifled sob. Only one person he knew would be in front of his door trying not to cry. The door's locks were unlatched and the last obstacle between Auggie and his guest was opened wide. "Annie?" he asked, smelling her grapefruit smell and hearing her sob and hoping - no, praying - that she wasn't hurt or, God forbid, in serious trouble. "Annie, what's wrong?"

"Auggie." She sounded confused, hurt, and on the verge of a complete breakdown. "I - I didn't know where else to go."

He didn't wait to hear her explain further. One arm reached out, and when he found her shoulder, he pulled her against him in a crushing hug. "It's okay," he whispered against her hair. "It's okay. I got you, Walker."

Somehow he managed to get her inside, locking the door behind him. She was in no condition to talk yet, so he led her to the couch and helped her to sit. When she was settled, he made his way to the kitchen and filled two glasses with water. The hard liquor could come later, but for now, he wanted Annie sober while she sobbed.

When he got back, her crying had subsided into hiccups and the occasional sob. He held out one glass to her, which he felt her take. Hearing the springs of his sofa squeak with her weight, Auggie carefully sat down beside her. Part of him, the spy part, burned to know what made her come to his apartment at eleven at night. The other part, the friend part, waited until she was calm enough to tell him herself.

Presently Annie started to speak. She told him how she'd told Danielle to not come home without telling her why, how Danielle was waiting for her when she got home. How she came clean to her sister about being a covert agent for the CIA. How Danielle had, or all intents and purposes, taken it badly. How she had given Annie the ultimate sign of banishment - ordering her to move out ASAP.

Auggie let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. "Oh god, Annie, I'm sorry," he said in a heartfelt tone.

"She barely gave me time to empty out my safe," Annie said softly. "She just kicked me out, and I - I didn't have anywhere else to go."

"Well, you know you're always welcome here." Auggie reached over and covered her hand with his. "You sound tired. Want to go to bed?"

Immediately her voice changed from pitiable to nervous. "You don't have to make up anything, I can sleep on the couch."

"What kind of host would I be if you went to work with a bad back?" he said. "It's okay, you can sleep in my bed. It's got clean sheets on it."

"I'm not kicking you out of your own bed, Auggie," Annie stated, showing her steel for the first time since she arrived.

He snickered. "If you'd let me finish, I was saying that we could share it. We're both adults, I'm sure it won't be too much of a problem."

He could practically _hear_ her blushing in embarrassment, even if he hadn't he couldn't miss her stammering. "I - well, y - I mean, you and I - we - "

Auggie sighed, trying not to smile. "Relax, Annie. I'm first and foremost a gentleman. I promise to keep my hands to myself."

There was a beat of silence. For a second, he was afraid that she had left and waited to hear his front door slam shut. He wouldn't blame her; what he proposed was close to impossible for them, even at their level of friendship. There were hidden feelings, at least on his side, that made his offer more loaded than a typical friendly offer should be.

Annie's voice was soft as a dove's coo. "Okay then." Another breath, and she added, "Thanks, Auggie."

He smiled at her. "What're friends for?"

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><p><strong>Just a tag for the season two summer finale, "World Leader Pretend."<strong>

**Review please!**


	14. Allen's

**Disclaimer: I don't own _Covert Affairs, _but Clara is my OC.**

**Prompt #13: Allen's - It quickly became a good place for them to hang.**

**Words: 990**

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><p>Allen's Tavern is universally known to all CIA-folk as a safe zone. You go there to detox, to unwind, to imbibe and possibly get lucky after a long day or a long op. Agents mix with techs, and everyone knows everyone else except when civilians arrive. Then you're just another regular Joe on your own.<p>

Unspoken but universally known, Allen's is technically a no man's land for shop talk. You don't talk about Langely business while you're there. Water cooler gossip, perhaps. Bitch-fits about certain people, most definitely. But business such as mission specs or job opportunities are a huge, unspoken no-no in Allen's. The reason why is plain - you never know who might overhear you.

Apparently Jai Wilcox didn't know this. But then again, if he had, perhaps Auggie Anderson wouldn't have gotten such a kick out of what happened...

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><p><em>Allen's, the night before...<em>

Annie was moderately surprised to see Jai sitting at her and Auggie's customary table. She was even more surprised to see that he seemed to be alone and waiting for her. "What're you doing here, Jai?" she asked carefully as she approached, trying not to sound annoyed.

"Just here to enjoy a drink," he replied. "Care to join me?"

She scanned the tavern as casually as possible. There was no sign of her curly-haired handler anywhere, which made her heart drop significantly. Heaving a sigh, she dropped into the booth and fixed Jai with a weary glance. "What do you want?" she asked, cutting straight to the chase.

That megawatt smile flashed on at full power. "Can't a guy just grab a dr - "

"No," Annie cut him off curtly. "And you're not one to do so without getting something out of it. Tell me now, or I'll slap you in front of all these people."

Jai's smile faded slightly. "Very well," he said. "I need to ask you for a favor."

Annie couldn't help the incredulous lift of her eyebrow. "Forgive my skeptisim, but can you repeat that? I think I heard you ask for a favor."

"Don't make me repeat myself," he growled, dropping the smile entirely.

She shook her head. "I'm just surprised. Why ask me?"

"Because you're one of the few decent people in the CIA who's not interested in playing politics."

"...Thank you?" she said, not sure if it was a compliment.

Jai leaned forward. "Look, nobody's taking me seriously as the head of Special Operations - "

"Big shock," Annie said without thinking.

He shot her a dirty look but pressed on. " - And I'm wondering if you'll consider a proposition."

She had to give him credit. Jai seemingly didn't care that he was breaking an unspoken rule of Allen's: don't talk about work. Glancing around, she saw how some people were subtly moving away so as not to hear.

Or they might've been moving away from Jai's taint. Either/or.

Annie crossed her arms. "I'm not working for you."

"Not asking you to."

"Not pitching the idea to Auggie, either," she added for good measure.

Jai shook his head. "Not asking you to. I'm wondering if you'll just give me an opinion."

Eyebrow shot back up like an express elevator. "My...my opinion?" she repeated, making sure he was serious.

"Yes. I want to hire some fresh faces..."

Annie was feeling more and more uncomfortable with every word. She'd only wanted to catch a drink before heading home, but with Jai prattling on about hiring, she just wanted an out. Glancing around covertly, she tried to catch someone's eyes, but everyone was absorbed in thier own conversations.

Then salvation arrived in the form of the dark-haired tech newbie. Annie shot her a desperate _Save me! _look over Jai's shoulder and gave a silent thanks to God that Clara understood the plea.

"Hey Annie!" said Clara, walking up and smoothly interrupting Jai. "Been lookin' for you. Can you settle an issue I've got with Stu and Barber? They're calling my Portuguese into question, so I need a second to back me up."

Annie nodded. "Sure thing. Excuse me, Jai." Grabbing her coat and beer, she kept stride with Clara and said, "Thank you so much."

Clara nodded. "No big deal, Annie. You looked real stuck there."

"Nobody ever learns about what just happened."

"Of course." The tech smiled. "No worries."

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><p>Auggie was smirking like a prep school prank master when Annie arrived the next day. "What's cooking, good-looking?" he practically chirped when the blonde woman entered his office.<p>

Giving him a pointlessly annoyed glare, she announced herself by saying, "And what's got you so happy, Auggie?"

"Heard a little birdie say that you and Mr. Wilcox had some words of a questionable nature last night at Allen's."

_Clara, that little tattletale. _"Ugh. Imagine Jai thinking my opinion would help him be better at his job."

Auggie laughed suddenly, a deep sound that made a few techs jump in their seats. "Him asking you? He must be desperate."

"It's your fault, you know," she said. "If you'd been there when you said you'd be, Jai wouldn't have taken our table and tried to make a move on me."

"Not my fault. That encrypted file was being a difficult bastard. I sent Clara to check up on you," he added.

"Because nothing says "You're my friend" than "I'm sending the newbie to save your ass"," Annie grumbled.

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><p><strong>Eh, not sure about this one.<strong>

**Review please!**


	15. Aunt

**Disclaimer: I don't own _Covert Affairs._**

**Prompt #14: Aunt - "Where's Aunt Annie?"**

**Words: 330**

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><p>Chloe frowned, annoyed when she didn't get a straight answer from her mother. Deciding to figure it out on her own, she got her younger sister Katia and headed for her aunt's now-vacated room in the guesthouse.<p>

"We shouldn't be doing this," Katia whispered, keeping a lookout while Chloe stuck the key into the hole beneath the doorknob.

"Mom's not telling us, and I wanna know where Aunt Annie went," Chloe said. She unlocked the door and beckoned her sister inside, shutting the door behind her.

Imagine her surprise when they stepped into a bare guesthouse. None of their aunt's things were visible. Sharing a look, the girls split up to investigate further.

"Aunt Annie's gone," said Katia, frowning in confusion. "Why is she gone?"

"Dunno," said Chloe. "Mom won't tell me."

Katia's scowl deepened. "I want Aunt Annie back."

"Me too. I have more art for her to hang up."

The two sisters left the empty guesthouse and locked it up again. On their way back up to their room, Chloe froze as a look of shock crossed her face. Her sister said, "What's the matter?"

"If Aunt Annie's not here..." Chloe said, "then...Auggie won't come over anymore!"

Katia's face mirrored her sister's in disbelief. "But I like Auggie!" she exclaimed. "He's waaaay cooler than any of the guys Dad and Mom bring home for Aunt Annie!"

"I know, right?" Chloe couldn't forget how Auggie had given her class the tour of the Smithsonian. Not only was he cool, but he was like a superhero. He was blind, but always knew where she was! "We gotta ask Mom to bring Aunt Annie back!"

Her sister nodded vigorously. Together they bolted to find their mother and plead their case.

Without Aunt Annie, there'd be no Auggie.

Simple as that.

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><p><strong>Little ficlet set a little after "World Leader Pretend."<strong>

**Review please!**


	16. Jai

**Disclaimer: I don't own _Covert Affairs._**

**Prompt #15: Jai - He could see the writing on the wall, but he just kept pushing it.**

**Words: 578**

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><p>Safely behind the glass walls of Tech Ops, Stu, Greg, and Barber watched with vested interest as Jai Wilcox entered the DPD and headed straight for Annie Walker. The blonde didn't even look up as he leaned his hip against her desk, flashing that charm smile of his.<p>

"Watch her shoot him down," Stu said.

"Watch him ignore all signals," Barber replied.

Quiet Greg just watched the outcome. Sure enough, Annie's lips moved to deliver what could only be described as a cool yet polite brush-off. As predicted, Jai plowed right on through like a rhino through tinfoil. They continued talking, and the tech boys could see Annie's annoyance growing to a slow boil.

Barber cackled. "She's gonna blast him."

"Still won't deter him," Stu retorted.

"Rome's second burning couldn't stop Jai," Greg said.

They watched as Annie finally spoke, apparently outlining why she wasn't falling in worship at his feet. Jai's smile faintly dimmed, but once Annie paused for breath, he spoke again with renewed vigor.

Greg shook his head. "Denial's not just a river in Egypt, my friends."

"I wonder if he's just being a dick on purpose because he can't live down the rejection," Barber said.

"He's gotta know by now," Stu said.

His friends looked over at him. "About what?" they asked in unison.

"You don't know?" Stu asked, feigning innocence.

Greg leaned closer. "You know something. Spill it."

The dark-haired analyst only smiled mysteriously. His eyes glanced back at the tableau of Jai and Annie unfolding in the bullpen. "Unbelieveable. And you guys work for the CIA."

"Obviously you have a source," said Barber. "C'mon man, let us in on it."

Stu grinned again. "Just watch. I'm sure you'll find out eventually."

"Who'll find out what eventually?" asked Auggie as he entered the office where his subordinates were slacking off. His grin showed that he wasn't annoyed by the lack of work being done.

"Hey boss," the three techs chorused.

"Hey yourself. So what's got you guys gossiping like girls at a sleepover?"

Stu, a wide grin on his face, purposely made his voice nonchalant. "Just watching Jai try to pick up another victim."

Auggie raised an eyebrow. "Really. Who's the unlucky girl?"

"It's Annie Walker."

Faster than a bat fleeing hell, Auggie's smile dropped from his face. "Would you excuse me for a second?" he asked, switching his laser cane back on as he headed out of Tech Ops.

Barber and Greg stared after their boss as realization sank in. "No way," Greg breathed.

"Way," Stu confirmed.

"Since when?" Barber demanded, watching Auggie stalk over to put himself between Annie and Jai.

"Does it matter?"

Greg shook his head. "Not really." The three watched as, following Jai's disbelief-ridden words, Auggie leaned down and gave Annie a long, slow kiss that had the blonde blushing furiously and the rest of the DPD whistling. "It's about time."

"I'm surprised Jai hadn't figured it out," Barber remarked.

"Who said he didn't already?" With the show over, Stu turned around to start decrypting his assignment. "Denial's not just a river in Egypt, my friends."

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><p><strong>Some fun at Jai's expense. We love it, don't deny it.<strong>

**Review please!**


	17. Uncle

**Disclaimer: I don't own _Covert Affairs_.**

**Prompt #16: Uncle - "Where's Uncle Auggie?"**

**Words: 440**

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><p>Katia watched her Aunt Annie walk through the house like she was a zombie. It wasn't normal; Aunt Annie was sunshine and smiles and fun, not blah and doom and gloom. Chloe agreed with her sister on this point, and that's when they knew something was wrong. If the sisters agreed, it had to be true.<p>

So young Katia decided to try a tried-and-true fix. She went up to Aunt Annie and asked point-blank, "When's Auggie coming over?"

Wrong question apparently. Whatever light was left in Aunt Annie's eyes dimmed, and the frown on her face got even sadder. Katia instantly started to apologize, but her aunt stopped her quickly. "It's not you," she assured the little girl. "It's just...Auggie's not around right now."

"Where is he?" Katia asked, tilting her head.

"Africa."

"Why's he there?"

Aunt Annie chewed her lower lip. "Seeing his girlfriend."

Well, that puzzled Katia plently. "I thought you were Auggie's girlfriend."

"No sweetie, we're just friends. Parker is...Parker is Auggie's girlfriend."

Katia decided right then and there that she didn't like this Parker lady. Anyone who made Aunt Annie look so hurt and sad had to be a mean person. "When is Auggie coming back?"

Aunt Annie sighed. "After the summer's over, I think."

"We should invite him over," the little girl continued. "I miss him."

Her aunt nodded absently. "I do too, sweetie."

"Why don't you call him?"

Aunt Annie shook her head. "I don't want to bother him."

"Got his number?"

"Well, yeah, but..."

Katia didn't stick around to hear the rest. Bolting like a rabbit from the hounds, she made for her aunt's purse and dug for her cell phone. Prize in hand, she ran for the safety of her room and shut the door. As a child of the digital age, it didn't take too long for her to locate Auggie's number on her aunt's speed-dial. It rang three times, then went to voicemail.

At the beep Katia said, "Auggie! It's Katia! Call back, like, now. Aunt Annie misses you loads. And you have to visit, cuz you promised you would! So come back quick, okay? Gotta go before Aunt Annie catches me. Call her, she misses you! Bye!"

As quickly as before, Katia replaced the phone in her aunt's purse. _Auggie better call back soon_, she thought. _I want Aunt Annie to smile again_.

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><p><strong>Can't wait for the new season to start!<strong>

**Review please!**


	18. Winter

**Disclaimer: I don't own _Covert Affairs._**

**Prompt #17: Winter - Snow made everything too quiet. Auggie hated it.**

**Words: 670**

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><p>"Auggie?"<p>

He blinked once, pulling off his headphones to show that he heard her. "What?"

"You're scowling again. What's the matter?"

"It's nothing," he said. And it really wasn't; just that his hopes for the weekend had been dashed by the weather reports. But he wasn't about to bring down her mood because he was a grouch in wintertime.

The clicking of heels and a wave of grapefruit scent told him she was coming closer. "I don't believe you," she announced. "Now come on, out with it. What's got you turning into a Grinch?"

"For your information, Walker, I happen to love Christmas."

That was true. Christmastime at the Anderson home had always been a raging party, and now that all the kids were grown with families of their own, it only got bigger and more insane than before. Auggie loved Christmas. It was just winter in general that had him turning grouchy.

He could almost _hear _Annie frowning at him. "C'mon Anderson, 'fess up."

"Why does this mean so much to you?"

He really didn't mean to snap, but then again, Annie always managed to find a way to burrow beneath his skin and wriggle into his heart, affecting his world in ways he hadn't anticipated anyone to ever do. Sometimes he appreciated it, even liked it, but at times like this, he wished she didn't have such a read on him.

Apparently this was National Don't Take Auggie's Crap Day, because Annie fired right back with, "I'm your friend, that's what it means to me! Your best friend, I'd be bold enough to stake. Now stop sulking like a child and tell me what's got you so irritated! What, you hate snow or something?"

Auggie's silent glower was answer enough. He waited for the gasp of realization, the hasty apology, and Annie's quick retreat.

He really ought to have known her better by now.

His desk groaned slightly, a sure sign that she was perching on it. He heard her power suit's fabric rustling as she crossed her arms. "Auggie?"

"It's not that big a deal," Auggie replied, shrugging casually. "I just don't care for it."

"Because of the quiet?"

That made him blink in shock. His head jerked to where he thought she was sitting. "How did you - "

"You always say that your other senses were heightened after the accident. But when snow falls, it always makes things real quiet, and you only smell ice and cold, and all you can feel is the cold air around you. It's like a silent bubble even for a sighted person."

With those words, she nailed every reason why he despised the winter weather. He gave an awkward smile. "You've certainly got a way of calling my bull, Annie."

"I've been gathering experience points." Her hand materialized on his shoulder, giving a reassuring squeeze. "Hey, you doing anything this weekend?"

"I've got no plans." _Not anymore, _he said to himself.

"Great!" Annie said brightly. "Then you're coming with us to the park."

Auggie blinked. "Say what now?"

"Chloe and Katia miss you, and they want to play in the snow this weekend. Your planless weekend means you've just volunteered for a day of fun in the snow." She giggled. "And just so you know, they demand a snowball fight."

"You're going to force the blind man to participate in a snowball fight?"

"Oh please, like you and I can't handle two little girls."

His eyebrow rose. "Are you saying we'll be on the same team, Annie?" he confirmed, feeling awfully warm in the cheeks and hoped he wasn't blushing.

"Well, duh." She laughed again. "Someone's gotta look after you."

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><p><strong>Can't wait for the new season!<strong>

**Review please!**


	19. Hearn

**Disclaimer: I don't own _Covert Affairs_.**

**Prompt #18: Hearn - She was there when the fallout threatened to crush him.**

**Words: 778**

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><p>Days like this made Annie wonder if some deity caused chaos just to see what would happen in the aftermath.<p>

She knocked on the door, hoped he'd answer, and prayed that he hadn't brought home company from Allen's. If he had...this would make her visit very, very awkward indeed.

While she waited, her mind wandered back to the last time she'd seen her handler...

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><p><strong><em>When word spread through the DPD that Liza Hearn was in handcuffs, gossip started flying thick and fast. Annie kept her head down and her ears open, trying to sort through the stories for the facts. Soon enough, she was able to piece together some similar aspects into some semblance of truth.<em>**

**_Liza Hearn had an inside source in the CIA. _**_Already knew that._

**_Henry Wilcox was Liza's source, feeding her information to undermine Arthur. _**_That was a new tidbit._

**_Jai Wilcox had ratted out his father as the source of the leak. _**_Sounded like him, selling out his father to gain favor among the CIA..._

**_And now Auggie was being called in to be debriefed about his severely-unofficial op on Liza. _**_Oh, dammit._

**_Arthur had tried to keep him out of the line of fire, but office politics being what they were, he had to call Auggie in or risk losing his own job. This got the rumor mill grinding, people whispering and wondering what the fallout would be for the head of Tech Ops._**

**_Annie was chained to her desk, running her highlighter through relevent articles in the Russian newspapers she had piled up. She could only watch as Auggie, his expression unreadable as a stone mask, headed out of the DPD for the elevator and whatever fate the universe had in store for him. Not even Joan could save him from whatever the seventh-floor puppetmasters decided._**

**_When he came back after a few hours, he didn't stop to speak to her. He returned to his office, shut down his computers, and left for home. Annie didn't dare flag him down for an explaination, not in front of everyone and their CIA-trained ears..._**

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><p>Which was why she was now in front of his apartment, hammering on the door and waiting impatiently for Auggie to answer her.<p>

He opened the door wide, a wan smile on his pale face. "Hey Walker."

"Auggie," she replied, slipping inside. She turned around to look over his lean frame. "You look wrung out."

"They really put me through the wringer," he replied. "Kept me there for almost four hours."

"I know." Annie reached out and took his hand in hers. "Want some company with your boozing?"

A crooked grin made one side of his lips quirk up. "And what makes you think I'm boozing?"

"You're not?" Leaning to look past his lean frame, she saw the half-empty bottle of tequila on the coffee table. "Aha. Busted. You dare to start without me?"

"Wasn't expecting you, to be honest." Auggie headed back for the couch. His usually fluid gait seemed a little sluggish, even accounting for the alcohol in his system. "Well, make yourself at home. Grab a glass."

If he was expecting her to start rambling about how stupid the CIA shadowlords were, or to give him that tired old line, "Everything'll be okay, I promise," Annie was determined to disappoint him. There were several ways to comfort or show support to someone without wasting a whole lot of words. It was clear that Auggie didn't want to hear movie-stale words of reassurance. He just wanted to get trashed and not remember the slog of trouble that was scuzz-sucking bitch-queen Liza Hearn.

Annie's description, not his.

Grabbing a glass, she poured two more shots and took hers like a champ. "I asked Joan for a day off tomorrow," she remarked. "She gave it. You, too. We can sleep in tomorrow with massive hangovers."

Auggie turned his head to stare blankly at her, not bothering to hide his tiny smile of relief. "That so. Setting the bar high much, Walker?"

"Yeah. So we're gonna need a lot more liquor," she said. "Whatcha got?"

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><p><strong>Tag for "Letter Never Sent" (I think that's the right one) after Jai sells his dad up the river.<strong>

**Btw, small spoiler - someone important but disliked dies in "Hang on to Yourself." Trust me, I cheered when it happened.**

**Review please! We're almost to the 100-milestone!**


	20. Mingus

**Disclaimer: I don't own _Covert Affairs. _If I did, there would have been no seperation of A2.**

**Prompt #19: Mingus - People can connect over music. They proved it on their first day.**

**Words: 681**

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><p>It was a rare and auspicious moment when Auggie Anderson brought home a girl who could actually name what was playing in his stereo. He'd barely pressed PLAY on his way in to let the smooth sounds of jazz fill his apartment when his guest's breath caught in a gasp of delight.<p>

"Oh, Charles Mingus!"

Auggie's eyes widened in pleasant surprise. "You know your jazz, all right," he said, folding up his cane and setting it on the kitchen counter.

"Told you I'm a fan." He heard the soft clunk of her purse dropping on his end table. "Your place is nice."

"Hafta take your word for it," he joked. "Want a drink?"

"Sure. Wasn't planning on driving home, anyway." Click-click-click went her heels as she started to explore the apartment. "Real nice. And clean. Cleaner than I'd expect a bachelor's pad to be."

"Blind guy tripping over his own crap is just taking the cliché a bit too far."

She chuckled. "So even you draw the line somewhere. Good to know."

"Here." Auggie held out one of the beers he'd grabbed, feeling her take it with slender fingers. "Make yourself at home."

He heard her kick off her shoes, then a soft _whump_ as she flopped on his couch. "Ahhh," she sighed in relief. "Feels good to get off my feet."

"Tell me about it."

Another sigh echoed around the room. "This is a great song."

"Yeah," he said. "You like it?"

"Yeah!" she replied, clapping her hands lightly together. He could just imagine her bouncing in place like a teenager. "Especially this one. "Better Git It In Your Soul" right?"

Auggie grinned. "Very good. I'm impressed." Sitting down beside her, he stretched his arm out to lie on the back of the couch behind her head. "Got any other surprises?"

She snuggled against him, giggling softly. "Why tell you? That'll spoil the surprise."

Further conversation was halted by the ringing phone. "Annie Walker," it said in a robotic voice. "Annie Walker."

"Who's that?" asked his guest.

"Work. Sorry." Auggie got up and headed for the phone. "Anderson."

"_Hey Auggie, are you - hey, is that Mingus playing?_"

"Yeah."

She paused for a moment, then asked softly, "_You have a girl over, don't you?_"

"What makes you say that?"

"_You're playing "Better Git It In Your Soul." That was playing the last time I stopped by when you had company over_."

And now Auggie felt guilty, like he'd been caught in the act by his girlfriend. Shaking it off, he said, "Why the call?"

"_An op just blew up in Lisbon. Literally. __Joan's sent out the call. All hands on deck._"

"On my way." Auggie hung up and turned to face his guest. "Sorry, I have to go into the office. Can you call a cab home?"

"Sure Auggie. I understand." He heard her footsteps as she gathered up her things and headed out the door, giving him a kiss farewell on the way out. "See ya around."

He didn't respond. His mind was back in work-mode, ready to go save the world with one Annie Walker.

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><p>One girl knowing his playlist was a rare and auspicious occasion. Two in the same week? It was just plain freaky.<p>

"Well that mission sucked," Annie sighed, collapsing on the couch. "I hate Lisbon."

"You love Portugal, don't lie," Auggie teased. He picked up his stereo remote, pressed PLAY, and immediately the smooth notes of jazz floated through the apartment.

"Mingus?" Annie asked, sounding surprised and a little wary.

Auggie sighed. "Don't worry, I'm not gonna seduce you over Better Git It In Your Soul. I'm classier than that."

"Is that so?"

He didn't say a word, but let the music do his talking. Sure enough, once she recognized the tune, he could practically hear her smile as she gasped. "Pork Pie Hat?"

"What can I say?" he said with his own smile. "I save the best for my bestie."

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><p><strong>Just saying...I HATE PARKER!<strong>

**Review please!**


	21. Frantic

**Disclaimer: I don't own _Covert Affairs_ or Parker would've died in frickin' Sudan before she broke Auggie's heart!**

**Prompt #20: Frantic - "I'm not losing you, Annie Walker! Not today, and not ever!"**

**Words: 1,215**

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><p>Auggie didn't learn about it by any CIA-standard conventional means. He had to hear it from a report passing over the OSP desk about one of Lena Smith's missions going bat-sh*t wrong, losing two agents and having a third on the run from hostile foreign agents. Even for Annie Walker's record for unexplained and unexpected surprises on the job, this was a whole other level of bad news.<p>

He wasn't sure what pissed him off more - the fact that nobody told him that Annie was in danger, or the fact that Lena told nobody that Annie was in danger.

Well, since he was doing Arthur's sneaky dirty work in the OSP, Auggie figured that it was time to cash in whatever major favors the DCS owed him for being his sniffer-dog. So he was able to march right into Lena's hidey-hole, commandeer a seat and Annie's hard line, and say with as much glib as a winded person could say, "You know Walker, you really ought to let me know you're in trouble sooner. That way I can plan your rescue in a cooler and more timely fashion."

"_Auggie__!_" came the breathless relief-soaked sigh.

"How's Paris?"

"_Loud and - Wait, h__ow'd you know - _"

He chuckled. "Don't you know? I have you LoJacked, Annie dear."

"_Bullshit_."

"Fine, I'm just awesome like that." The customary opening jokes concluded, Auggie quickly got down to business. "Give me a sit rep, Annie. What's going on over there?"

"_Agents Harper and Eiger are dead; the meet place blew up while I was securing the package_." There was the sound of a revving engine. "_I've got Eiger's __Porsche 911 for transportation. Driving south._" She sounded winded, but all right. "_You got some way of saving my bacon, Auggie?_"

"Don't I always?" Auggie quipped. "Okay, can you head for the airport? We can pull a charter plane to get you out in an hour."

"_I can try_."

"All right, Annie. Lemme know when you get there."

"_Will do - no no no NO!_"

"Annie? Annie, what's wrong?"

"_There's a roadblock already in place! Shit - shit, the brakes are jammed, Auggie! I can't stop the car!_"

"Bail out, now!" he shouted, leaping to his feet. "Annie, get out of there!"

"_AUGGIE__ - AHHHHHHHH!_" There was a terrific crash through the line, then the call dissolved into static.

"Annie? Annie, talk to me!" Auggie ordered desperately, pleadingly, before yelling to the general silent public, "Someone get eyes on the crash! Cameras, newscast, anything! What's going on?"

He heard Lena barking orders and people jumping into action. While the office whirled around him like a twister, Auggie was in the eye of the storm trying to break through white noise to reach his favorite operative. His best friend. His Annie.

"Annie." White noise. "Annie, come on." White noise. "Annie, answer me!"

"Oh my God," came a breathy gasp behind him. Female. Unfamiliar. "Sir, it's...it's..."

"What? What is it?" he asked. Once again he cursed his need to rely on others' eyes. "_What's going on?_"

"We have eyes on the wreckage."

_The wreckage._ Not _the car, _or _Annie_.

A hand rested on his shoulder. "I'm sorry, Anderson. She's gone."

_She's gone_. _She's gone_. _She's gone_.

The white noise was all he heard after that.

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><p>Someone brought him to his old office in the DPD after that. At least, that's where Auggie regained his sense of surroundings. Finding the nearest wall, he turned to press his back against the support as he slid to the ground. It was cool in the room and the sounds of the DPD were muffled, meaning the door was shut and the lights off.<p>

Auggie didn't care where he was. He was still in shock.

Annie - his Annie - was gone.

_Burning heap of twisted metal...no possible way she survived_... The words hit his brain dully, like rocks thrown against a brick wall just shy of the window. The local authorities were saying that it was an accident. Whatever the package was, it had burned up with the car. The mission was scrapped.

And Auggie was left in his old office with a ragged, gaping hole in his soul that would never heal clean.

He could count on one hand how many times he's cried in his life. Growing up the youngest of brothers makes you real tough real fast, and when coupled with Army, SERE, and CIA training, that toughness becomes near impenetrability. But not even years of conditioning could stem the hot, salty drops that cascaded from Auggie's sightless eyes.

They did, however, help keep the act silent. So while he mourned the loss of his best friend, he never uttered a sound.

After a solid hour of tears that left his eyes scratchy and his throat raw, Auggie was suddenly aware of a vibrating sensation at his hip. His hand moved from shielding his eyes to sliding down to his pocket.

The ringtone kicked in. A ringtone that Auggie never thought he'd ever hear. He snapped it open and answered in record time. "Hello?"

"_H...Hey, Auggie,_" panted the one voice he'd never thought he'd hear again. She sounded out of breath and in pain, but wonderfully alive. "_Sorry, had to lie low til I got cleaned up...I'm at a cafe twenty blocks from the accident_. _Are you alone?_"

He knew he should've responded better, but his relief mixed with his rage and made him explode. "Dammit Annie, what the hell? Do you have _any_ idea the hell what you've just put me through? _I thought you were dead, dammit!_" His voice cracked twice but he kept going. "I hear you scream, your car goes up in flames and I think you're dead, and the first thing you ask me when you make a collect call back from the dead is "Are you alone?" Are you serious?"

"_Auggie!_" Annie almost shouted. "_Calm down! I'm okay. Look, the meet place was a last-second change, and when we got there, the place lit up like the Fourth of July. We were set up_."

Auggie quickly slipped back into Overprotective Handler Mode. "You think there's a leak?"

"_There has to be._" In the background someone spoke to Annie in French, to which she responded in turn. "_I didn't know who else to trust, so I dug out my get-out-of-jail-free card._" Her voice grew sheepish. "_Sorry about being so late. I had to tend my wounds and wrap my leg._"

"You aren't hurt that bad, are you?" he asked, concerned.

"_No, but __I could really use that cool and timely rescue_ _right about now._"

"Don't worry," Auggie said, already getting up and heading for Joan's office. "I'm scrambling the rescue team right now."

"_Joan?_"

"Damn straight. You hang tight and stay with me, all right? You don't hang up until you're on the plane home to me, you hear me, Annie?"

He could practically hear her smile. "_I hear you__, Auggie. Bring me home._"

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><p><strong>This actually had me scared for Annie. Too scared to end at the fake crash. Reason why it's so long.<strong>

**Review please!**


	22. Arm

**Disclaimer: I don't own _Covert Affairs_.**

**Prompt #21: Arm - Being his guide had its benefits. But mostly she liked how she felt standing beside him.**

**Words: 476**

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><p>Being the guide of August Anderson was a pretty sweet set-up. For a number of reasons, actually.<p>

The most obvious is that you get a great-looking guy on your arm. The glares of jealousy from every other woman in the room warm your skin like a soft blanket, if a little annoying.

Second most obvious one is that Auggie relies on you. In a working environment where you're the one who depends on Auggie's help to navigate an op, it's a welcome change to help him navigate life in general.

Another perk is the fact that having said guy is a good deterrent against sleazy guys. While blind, Auggie is built enough to keep the men away. Not to mention much better company than most men you've ever met.

Also, being beside him meant that you get close enough to breathe in his unique scent as much as you wanted. Auggie smells great, some sort of cologne that you couldn't really place, mixed with his shampoo and another smell that was pure male and pure Auggie.

And let's not forget how you like simply standing so close beside him. You seem to fit perfectly at his side, and it's a place you love to occupy whenever the opportunity arises.

But the most amazing part about being Auggie's eyes was the fact that, as long as you're with him, he'll never let go of you. His hand latches on above your elbow, and come hell and high water, nothing is going to pry it off you.

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><p>"Annie?" You look up to see your handler leaning against your desk, a heartbreakingly boyish grin on his face.<p>

_God, he'll be the death of me. _"Yeah Auggie?" you reply.

"Um, are you free tonight?"

"...Why?"

"I have to do a favor for Joan, some surviellance of a mark," he says. "It's just listening, but nothing says suspicious like a guy flying solo at a swanky charity ball." He shrugs. "Wondering if you'd care to help me look more distinguished."

"Depends," you tease. "How distinguished are we talking?"

His grin gets wider. "Well, I believe "good enough to pass as a girlfriend" were Joan's exact words."

No lie, the word _girlfriend _make your heart skip a beat like a schoolgirl. "And I'm gonna have to hang off your arm all night?"

"That too."

You pretend to think about it for a grand total of ten seconds. Any shorter and his ego would swell to enormous proportions. "Sure. I have a nice dinner dress gathering dust in my closet. Pick you up at six?"

"Sounds good." He reaches down and pats your hand. "I'll bring you a corsage."

"Dork."

"I knew I could count on you, Annie."

You squeeze his hand back. "Always, Auggie."

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><p><strong>Review please!<strong>


	23. Mercer

**Disclaimer: I don't own _Covert Affairs_ or the movies mentioned here.**

**Prompt #22: Mercer - He was there when his capture made her heart shatter all over again.**

**Words: 574**

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><p>It was only right that he should be there for her. She would've done the same to him.<p>

Auggie knocked on the guesthouse door, hoping that Annie was home and not asleep. Or worse, had a guy over.

His mind stumbled back to earlier that day...

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><p><em><strong>The capture of Ben Mercer was one of the biggest news bombs that ever exploded at Langely. It was a wonder that any work was accomplished today; all anyone wanted to talk about was the fact that the CIA's top-notch rogue had finally been cornered and brought back home.<strong>_

_**Auggie frankly couldn't muster up a care about Ben. He wanted to make sure Annie was all right. She was still delicate about anything Mercer-related, and this was definitely bound to cause some sort of negative reaction in her.**_

_**But in a cruel twist, she was called in for a board of inquiry before he had a chance to speak with her. To add fury to failure, he wasn't able to find her afterwards. A helpful intern told him that Annie had taken an early day. He'd been half-tempted to leave as well, but Joan had stopped him in his tracks.**_

_**"Let her grieve first," she advised the tech. "Give her space to heal."**_

_**So he gave space. Several hours' worth. But once the work day ended, Auggie cut and ran with the single-minded desperation of a spy with an op.**_

_**He needed to be with Annie. She'd need a friend now.**_

_**He could only hope that he could be the friend she wanted.**_

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><p>Auggie blinked when he heard the sound of unlatching locks in front of him. Composing his face, he held the bottle of red wine tighter.<p>

The door swung open. "Hey, Auggie."

"Sounds like I'm interrupting something." Her nose was stuffed up, making her voice sound more nasal than usual, and he could smell popcorn wafting from inside the guesthouse. _Thank God. No male company. _"Chick flick marathon? Popcorn and...chocolate...and fries?"

"Don't make fun of me," she chuckled. Her hand closed over his and tugged, inviting him inside. "Aww, you brought red wine."

"Figured you'd like the alcohol. Isn't red wine a staple for this type of thing?"

"Yup." She divested him of the bottle, then led him to the couch. "I assume you'll want a glass too?"

"Yup." From the barely audible conversations, she was watching _He's Just Not That Into You_. Auggie grimaced; not exactly a good thing to hear coming from your best friend's TV. "Mind if I stick around for a while?"

_Pop!_ went the cork. There was a heavy silence that had Auggie squirming inside. _Please don't turn me away, please don't suffer alone_.

"Well...I'm getting really bored of serial-watching chick flicks. You seen any good movies, so to speak?"

Auggie smiled in relief. If she was poking fun at his disability she was definitely feeling better. "Well, I heard that _The Bourne Legacy _was a pretty good watch. And _ParaNorman_."

"Wanna go see one?"

"You okay to drive?"

She chuckled. "I wasn't depressed enough to drink. You saved me, Auggie." He heard the TV click off, her keys rattle as she picked them up, and an elbow nudged his hand. "C'mon. Let's go out."

"I'd love to," he said with a smile.

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><p><strong>Anyone else excited for tomorrow's episode? I know I am!<strong>

**Review please! We're almost at 150, can you believe it?**


	24. Couple

**Disclaimer: I don't own _Covert Affairs._**

**Prompt #23: Couple - Annie used to envy people who'd found their "soulmate."**

**Words: 861**

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><p>It's not very nice to hate a woman on principle. Especially not the woman your best friend's in love with.<p>

But when Auggie showed her that beautiful pearl ring, _damn _if Annie's heart didn't burn dark jealous fire. It was beautiful and different and one-of-a-kind - and intended for Parker. The sister of one of his Army buddies. His girlfriend of four months. Someone who knew absolutely nothing of the work they did.

Even Annie knew that was far too soon to spring marriage on someone. Hell, it'd taken her two years to read Danielle in, and her sister had thrown her out!

Swallowing her tears, Annie heaved a deep sigh and rolled over to stare at Simon's sleeping face. Flying to Paris after seeing that ring had been impulsive and stupid, but Annie had wanted someone to hold her and love her. Sad that it had to be a maybe-Russian spy she was trying to glean information from.

She would've preferred hanging with Auggie at Allen's.

But no. He was in Eritrea, probably on some beach proposing to Parker. The one for him.

It made her feel awful.

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><p>It broke her heart when she learned what happened.<p>

Parker left him. She _left _him, had her bags all packed and a cab waiting before Auggie was even awake, and left him with the ring and no way to chase after her.

Annie's first knee-jerk reaction was completely understandable. She wanted to hunt Parker down and yell _You soulless bitch! How could you do that to Auggie? _But then again, Annie understood the other woman's situation as well. Didn't mean she was sympathetic, however.

Then there was the incident at Allen's. Involving the cops. He'd been in a real bad way.

She wanted to talk about it, but Annie knew Auggie about as well as she knew herself. He was a master of compartmentalizing. He'd brush off any questions or attempts to talk. Bad enough he was seeing the CIA head-shrinker; the last thing he'd probably want is his best friend pick-picking away.

So she waited for him to come to her.

Sighing, Annie rolled over and punched her pillow to get it more comfortable. Her recent mission had really put her through the ringer. All she wanted was to sleep, but her churning brain refused to let her go easy.

Auggie hadn't talked with her since she confronted him. Three days ago. But Annie wasn't worried. She knew he'd come around.

After all, they were besties.

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><p>It was five days after Sayeed was turned that Annie found herself standing in his office doorway. Auggie didn't hear her approach on account of listening intently to whatever was coming through his headphones. Stepping lightly, Annie walked up to his desk and touched his shoulder.<p>

He reacted like she branded him with a hot iron. One hand came up to grab her wrist in a death grip as the other ripped off his headphones. "What the hell is wrong with you?" he snapped. "Don't you know it's a bad joke to - "

"Auggie, it's me!" Annie said, trying to pry off his crushing grip. "Let go. You're hurting me!"

"Annie?" The anger faded to shock, and he couldn't let go fast enough. "I'm sorry. You startled me."

"Yeah, I caught that." Rubbing her wrist, Annie injected a joking note. "My bad. You're always saying it's not a good idea to sneak up on you."

"D'you need something?"

"Wondering if you wanted to grab some drinks."

His smile was dry. "We actually going to talk now?" he asked. "No missions or work to get in our way?"

"My evening's free and clear," Annie said. "Yours?"

"It is now. You driving?"

The old joke never failed to put a smile on her lips. "Of course. Which means you're buying."

"Of course." Auggie glanced up at her. "You okay? You sound a little defeated."

"Long couple days."

"That what prompted your transfer request?"

She pouted uselessly. "You really do know too much about everything that goes on here."

"It's how I stay employed. I know too much." He reached for her hand, and she gave it to him. "Let's go vent over beers. It's been too long."

"It really has," she said. "I've missed you."

"Me too, Annie."

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><p>Annie had never put much stock in soulmates, but now that Parker was gone, as bad as it sounded, she was considering the possibility. A chance of being together with Auggie.<p>

But she knew better than to blindly believe. Soulmates spoke of forever, and when you're a spy in the CIA, you know that forever is an illusion that nobody can ever claim is real.

Sitting with Auggie in a little corner booth, beers in hand and catching up on everything, Annie could believe that they stood a chance. Even though she knew he probably didn't think of her that way.

But damn, did she wish he did.

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><p><strong>Does anyone else think the show needs to up its game? I do.<strong>

**Review please!**


	25. Lost

**Disclaimer: I don't own _Covert Affairs._**

**Prompt #24: Lost - Joan used to think Auggie would never truly be all there. But when Annie showed up, it was like seeing the prodigal son return.**

**Words: 1,055**

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><p>Joan Campbell was writing reports at her desk when movement in the empty bullpen caught her eye. This itself was strange; she was well-known for burning the midnight oil, but few of her agents had her drive. Especially the will to go on until almost one in the morning. But then again, this one report was due in the morning and Joan had put it off long enough...<p>

Back to the bullpen. She glanced out and saw Auggie Anderson making his way towards a desk. A specific desk. Annie's desk. Once there, he sat in her chair, pushed it back enough to put his head down in his arms, and seemed to fall asleep.

Auggie Anderson.

Putting her pen down for a moment, Joan leaned back in her chair and regarded one of her best subordinates. Loyal, steadfast, sweet Auggie, always with a smile and a witty/sarcastic greeting for whomever entered his office. Blinded, yes, but by no means handicapped.

He wasn't always so sweet, though. There was once a time where it was safer to squirt acid in a tiger's eye than talk to Auggie. More specifically, when he was newly recruited to the CIA after his accident. He was trying so hard to prove himself capable, trying to overcompensate for his lack of vision by being the best damn tech ever. He was tetchy around people, sarcastic enough to give first-degree burns, and an uncomprimising womanizer. But he was the best at his job, so everybody gradually overlooked his bad personality traits. It was no wonder he quickly rose to be Head of Tech Ops.

Joan worried about Auggie back then. Worried that he'd grow resentful at being put behind a desk and chained there for the rest of his life. Worried that someday, his charming schoolboy ways would land him in a situation his mouth couldn't talk him out of. Worried that he'd live his life alone, without a real friend anywhere. Worried that nobody would ever fully understand and accept him.

Auggie slowly grew to accept his new lot in life, but still Joan worried. He lived in a darkness that very few people would want to tread into. She dared, because he was her best tech and more than once she'd had to kick his butt into gear. But very few others really accepted Auggie without thinking "That blind tech guy" more often than not. And he hated being labeled by his disability, which just made relations even more awkward.

Until, in a last-ditch attempt to make him socialize, Joan ordered him to walk Annie Walker through Langely's ropes. She never expected it to turn out so well (though to her dying day she'd swear she planned the whole thing).

From then on out, she saw a change start to creep over Auggie. His expressions softened. His sarcastic jokes didn't have that caustic bite. Even the blind jokes were spoken more in jest than jeer. Of course, with the good came the bad - he broke ranks more times in that first year than he'd done since he arrived at Langely, and he started pulling crap that would tread insubordination and make him step out of his office and into the real world.

But Annie never left him out there for too long. She stuck to him in a way that Joan instantly recognized as a kindred spirit. There was never any pity when she spoke about Auggie. Protectiveness, yes. Possessiveness, more than somewhat. Outright friendship, most definitely.

She was easily the best thing that could have ever happened to Auggie. For all intents and purposes, she was his beacon, the light that guided him back from the brink and as close to the man he used to be that he could ever hope to become.

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><p><em>Speaking of back from the brink<em>... Joan saw a familiar blonde head hobbling into the DPD. She sat up in surprise when she recognized Annie, just returned from a rough mission in Rio de Janero, having survived yet another series of events that most agents never experience in their tenure at Langely.

Why she was still here at this late hour puzzled Joan. She'd given the agent strict orders to go home after getting checked out by the doctor. So why...?

Her answer lifted his head as Annie approached. The surprise on Annie's face was visible even from Joan's distance. As her office door was open, it wasn't hard for her to hear Annie say, "Auggie, what are you still doing here?"

"Miscommunication. My ride left me stranded," was his glib reply. Joan smiled as Auggie rose and put his hands on his hips. "I thought I made it very clear that you had to be home by seven, young lady."

Annie laughed, then winced. "Don't make me laugh," she chuckled weakly. "It hurts."

All trace of teasing vanished. Auggie took a step forward and his hands unerringly landed on the smaller woman's sides. "Where? What happened?"

"Clotheslined by a steel pipe. No biggie."

"Oh, so cracked ribs aren't considered a "biggie" since my last jaunt in the field?" His hands slipped up her waist, ghosting over the injuries to land on her shoulders. Joan could only imagine the warm brown eyes being trained in the general direction of Annie's face. "You okay?"

Annie nodded. "I'm nodding, Auggie. And yeah, I'm fine." Her smile was soft and fond. "Howsabout I get you home?"

"Yeah. After-mission drinks must be out of the question." Offering his arm, he waited until she looped hers through before starting for the door. "What did they give you for pain?"

"Percocet."

"You didn't take any yet, did you?"

"No, they gave me a localized anesthetic. It'll hold until I get home."

"Good. Your driving terrifies me enough when you're not doped up."

"I'm a great driver!"

"Psh. I'm lucky I'm not blind _and _crippled."

The banter continued as the pair exited the DPD, leaving Joan to sit in her office with a smile on her face. She definitely preferred this Auggie to the sullen bastard who used to work for her.

And she had Annie to thank for that.

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><p><strong>Review please!<strong>


	26. Imagination

**Disclaimer: I don't own _Covert Affairs _or the promo for "Suffragette City" that I've watched seventy billion times. **

**Prompt #25: Imagination - After three years, he tried to picture her with the little details he's heard of and picked up on.**

**Words: 838**

****Spoiler alert! Spoiler alert! From tonight's episode, "Glass Spider" so you've been warned.****

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><p>I've known Annie for three long, wonderful years. I've been with her through everything that's rocked this agency to the core - the Hearn leak, the Mercer scandal, the radiation scare, Jai's death. I know her better than anyone else in the entire world.<p>

Now Simon's dead and she's lying in a hospital bed, unconscious and fighting for her life, while Lena keeps saying she's a traitor.

Arthur says she was lying to me, but I know better. I know Annie. She'd never betray the CIA. She called to say she was coming in. I could hear the truth in her voice.

My Annie would never do this. Not to her country. Not to her family.

Not to me.

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><p>You can learn a lot about a person the longer you know them. I can attest to that.<p>

That's fine for the sighted. For me, it's less about memorizing a face or expression and more about recalling a smell, or a laugh, or a touch. Instead of the visual, I can focus on what's inside the person.

I count myself lucky that way - in the three years I've known Annie Walker, I've never been distracted by her oft-spoken beauty. That's given me the chance to really know the brain inside the bombshell.

She's strong. Maybe petite, but there's power in her. Power enough to run in those damn high heels of hers, whether from gunmen or towards a goal. She's got the moves to keep herself safe as well - I've seen to that. After a few close calls with men larger than her (which is most of the male population, let's face it) I've made sure that she's never completely overpowered if she can help it.

She's smart. Maybe not my IQ, but she's definitely an intelligent woman - knowing over six languages, she's got to be. She's clever too, and resourceful, able to talk her way out of a dynamite factory while holding a blowtorch in each hand. That's the only way I can explain the way she manages to turn everything she touches into CIA gold.

She's honest as a saint. That's how she understands people enough to get them to trust her. Give Annie enough time with a mark, and she can turn him into a valued asset. Her current record's three hours, with a Yemeni official. That's gotta be a CIA record of some sort as well.

She's a rebel. Whether it's breaking into a museum with a MI5 agent wannabe or calling in SEAL team two to bail out my butt from Sudan, Annie's never been one to follow the crowd. That's what makes her a phenomenal agent; she can adapt to new situations faster than anyone I've ever seen, pardon the pun.

She's loyal to a fault. She'll never leave someone out in the cold, be it an asset on the run or a fellow agent stuck in a hostile nation. Come hell or high water or orders from on high, if Annie knows you're in a jam, she'll move heaven and earth to help you.

She keeps your secrets. A virtual safe, my Annie. Tell her a secret and you have the satisfaction of knowing that she'll never betray it to anyone. Unless, of course, the circumstances demand spilling her guts to save your butt. But those are mitigating circumstances, and therefore entirely acceptable secret-sharing conditions.

With all the qualities she possesses, and without even seeing her face, I know Annie is just as beautiful on the outside as she is on the inside. And I've always heard that she's a beautiful woman. The techs whisper about how long and soft her honey-blonde hair looks. Other agents mumble about her lithe, petite form wrapped in a power suit and boosted by those Louboutins she adores. They say her smile is like watching a sunrise over the ocean. They say she's got the face of an angel.

I know my mind's eye can't even begin to do her justice, but that's all right.

That's enough for me.

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><p>My hand crawls up along the soft hospital blanket to tangle with her cold, limp fingers. My mind is going a million miles an hour, churning out the thoughts I long to yell at her.<p>

_I need to have beers at Allen's with you again._

_I need to feel your hand pat my arm again._

_I need to spar with you again._

_I need to hear your voice again._

_I need to hear your laugh again._

_I need to tell you - I need to tell you -_

"I need you, Annie," I breathe as I hold her hand tightly. "And I never need anyone. But I need you."

Then again, she's never been just anyone to me.

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><p><strong>Inspired by aforementioned promo, specifically Auggie's three spoken lines, to which I say:<strong>

***scream* OHMYGOD OHMYGOD OHMYGOD NEXT WEEK HAS TO COME RIGHT NOW!**

**Review please, as we have also the halfway point!**


	27. Juvenile

**Disclaimer: I don't own _Covert Affairs._**

**Prompt #26: Juvenile - They bickered like kids with crushes, but when push came to shove, they grew up fast.**

**Words: 916**

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><p>Annie Walker was mad.<p>

With good reason. After a joint CIA-MI5 mission in Barcelona, Auggie had gone off on her in his office yesterday, scolding her about flirting with her British contact. She'd gotten angry right back, not understanding why he was going overprotective big-brother on her from across the ocean. It had gotten so bad that Joan had to step in and break it up, sending Auggie home early and Annie back to her desk to search through newspapers. They'd said nothing to each other when he left, and he hadn't come in that morning.

She scowled as she angrily stomped down to the cafeteria. Her fellow employees subtly moved to clear out of her path, easily reading her expression and not wishing to feel her wrath.

_It was better that he hadn't come in today_, she thought. August Anderson, that high-handed, holier-than-thou, hoity-toity, smug bastard who -

"Annie!"

Her inner Auggie cut-down was interrupted by the shout behind her. Annie looked over to see Clara racing over to her side with a look of pure terror on her face. "What is it? What's wrong?" Annie asked.

"You left your phone up on your desk, and I recognized the phone number for the hospital so I answered and - " The younger woman's voice cracked, so she cleared her throat and started again. "It's Auggie. He got hit by a car."

Her insides felt like they'd been submerged in ice water and stabbed with knives. She could only say one word: "When?"

"An hour ago. He's in the ICU." Clara held up her keys. "I'll drive."

* * *

><p><strong><em>"I can't believe you did that!"<em>**

**_"Did what?" Auggie asked calmly._**

**_"You said something to Ian that made him treat me with kid gloves for the entire mission!" Annie accused hotly. "Now what did you say?"_**

**_His eyes flashed with anger. "I told him not to screw around with you because he's got a history of sleeping with his coworkers!__"_**

**_Annie gave an indignant gasp. "How dare you!"_**

**_"I was looking after you, Annie!" Auggie said in his defense._**

**_"Don't take the moral high ground, mister! You've charmed your way through most of Langley's female staff!"_**

**_"I at least had the decency not to get involved with a fellow spy! Unlike you!"_**

**_Annie bristled at his tone. "And what's that supposed to mean?"_**

**_"You really wanna go there?"_**

**_"Yeah, let's go there!" she shouted._**

**_"Fine!" he yelled. "Simon! You knew he was a FSB spy, the best, and you fell for him anyway!"_**

**_"And what about you?" Annie fired back. "You proposed to a girl after only four months of dating her, but you wouldn't read her in on what you do!"_**

**_"That's not the same thing!"_**

**_"Of course it is!"_**

* * *

><p>It kept cycling through her mind, that last argument with Auggie, as she waited with Clara in the hospital waiting room. Annie buried her face in her hands as she fought to keep her tears at bay. Such a stupid argument, and it was the last thing he'd heard her say. She'd said such hateful things, and now Auggie was in the hospital.<p>

Clara rested her hand on Annie's shoulder. "He'll be fine," she said. "The boss is a tough guy." Annie nodded mutely. A long pause stretched between them before Clara cleared her throat. "You know he was jealous, right?"

"Jealous?" Annie repeated, looking at the younger tech in surprise. "Why?"

"Near as I can figure, because he likes you more than you think he does." Clara shrugged. "My best friend is the field agent I handle, and he was the same way for a while. Anyway, we got in a big stupid fight about it just before he went on a mission, and I wasn't his handler for it." She shivered, as if the memory still terrified her. "The op went sideways, and he went communications dark for forty-eight hours. I got someone to let me man the line, and I sat there for those two days. Longest two days of my life."

Annie knew just how scary that situation was, having been on both ends at one time or another. "And when he re-established contact?"

Clara gave a dry bark of laughter. "First thing he asked was for me to make a Starbucks run. Caramel macchiato, extra shot of caramel. God, I nearly reached through the phone line and strangled him." She chuckled again. "Anyway, we realized just how stupid we'd been, arguing over something so pointless about something we both knew was pointless."

The doctor suddenly appeared, ending the conversation. Clara stepped out to make a phone call, and Annie walked into Auggie's room. Her best friend was sitting up and smiling tiredly. "Hey there, Walker," he whispered.

"Hey Auggie," she murmured, walking up to his bedside. "How are you feeling?"

"Like I hip-checked a car." He chuckled. "Should've looked both ways before crossing."

Annie's laugh was sharp with relief. "Yeah, what were you thinking?" she scolded. Her hands reached out to hold one of his. "Don't scare me like that ever again, okay?"

"Never again," he nodded.

"I'm sorry, Auggie."

It was a testament to their friendship that he didn't even have to ask what for. He merely squeezed her hand and said, "Me too."

* * *

><p><strong>Awwww, making up! So cute!<strong>

**SEASON FINALE WAS AWESOME! WHO'S EXCITED FOR OCTOBER 16th?**

**Review please!**


	28. Techs

**Disclaimer: I don't own _Covert Affairs_ or the line used from aforementioned show.**

**Prompt #27: Techs - Stu, Greg, and Barber could all tell that something was brewing with Auggie.**

**Words: 630**

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><p>Techs and analysts sometimes made the best agents when it came to the interior of Langley's halls.<p>

The techs working in the DPD were no exception. In fact, they were slightly better. The whole sneaking-around-behind-the-boss's-back deal was a whole lot tougher when your blind boss has four other overdeveloped senses.

Stu, Greg, and Barber thought they were pretty clever guys. Clever enough to find out little gossip tidbits that cycled through Langley's rumor mill that pertained to their boss and a certain blonde agent. Once those tidbits are found, they do their damndest to prove or disprove them.

Between the three of them, the relationship of Annie and Auggie was reliably monitored.

* * *

><p>Stu first noticed when the two friends got a tad bit closer. Annie's grip on Auggie's arm went from "just friendly" to "somewhat possessive" over the course of a week. Annie stuck to him like white on rice, shooting cute one-liners that had him grinning like a schoolboy. For some reason, it didn't feel as routine as it once had been. No, it felt...intimate.<p>

Stu could only assume that they were getting closer than best friends. But he had no proof.

Barber realized that there was a shift in the relationship while on stakeout in the van with them. The conversation was light and playful, but not in a best friends type of way. No, it sounded like they were having their own covert conversation under all the small talk. Which made no sense, unless...unless they had become more than friends. Much more.

But again, Barber could only assume. There was no proof.

Greg noticed the change in how they spoke while over comms. Everything seemed more intense, especially when Annie was trying to find her way out of a sticky situation. The tone of Auggie's voice was different as well, with an edge that seemed more pronounced than before. He'd cared about Annie before, but this was something different, something stronger.

Once more, just an assumption. No proof.

Three years of guessing, and with no idea how to go about proving it, the three techs could only sit and watch while thier boss and his best friend continued to do this covert song-and-dance routine. So when Clara joined their midst, she was quickly how to sift through the gossip and find the choicest pieces of intel.

They could have never imagined that she would make the biggest discovery of all.

* * *

><p>When she walked into Langley the next morning, Clara was surprised to see Auggie walking just ahead of her. He was usually in long before any of the other DPD techs arrived. A huge smile firmly planted itself on her face when she realized that he was wearing the exact same thing he'd had on the day before.<p>

Picking up her pace, Clara hurried to his side and playfully touched his elbow. "Hey boss."

"Clara, how are you today?" he asked, his hand reaching up to latch onto her elbow for guidance.

"Good." The smile was still going strong as they entered the DPD. Her eyes landed on Annie - and glittered with mirth as she saw that the blonde agent was also recycling yesterday's look.

Her smile grew wicked as well as gleeful. _I guess this proves the "assumptions" the guys said they were having._

She waited until the doors of Auggie's office were closed before her voice dropped to a conspiratorial whisper. "I gotta ask."

"No you don't," he said in a hushed tone.

Barely able to suppress her giggles, Clara playfully asked, "When you two picked up yesterday's outfits off the floor this morning, did you really think no one would notice?"

* * *

><p><strong>Clara's final line is a throwback to season 1, episode 6 "Houses of the Holy" from that first conversation between Annie and Auggie.<strong>

**Review please!**


	29. Visible

**Disclaimer: I don't own _Covert Affairs._**

**Prompt #28: Visible - "The blind guy leading the damsel out of the dark tunnels," Auggie joked as he took Annie's hand. "You want to say it or should I?"**

**Words: 890**

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><p>"We're in trouble, Auggie."<p>

"Oh?"

"Yeah. On top of being lost in these damn catacombs, wading through ankle-deep sewage, my flashlight's just flashed its last light." Annie shook the flashlight one more time, but all she got was a rattle from the dead batteries. "I must have the absolute worst luck of any field agent alive. All my ops screw up in some spectacular fashion that almost always requires a CIA extraction team to get me out."

"Could be worse."

"How?"

"It could be raining."

Instead of gracing that with a response, Annie tried to figure out their location. "We've been heading west, weren't we?"

"Yeah, for the last five hundred yards. Before that we were going south from the manhole we dropped through."

She hadn't remembered that. Relief made Annie grin and remark, "Well, at least I'm lost with an Army Special Forces guy."

"We don't get turned around so easy." Auggie squeezed her elbow again and tugged. "This way."

"Auggie, I can't see a thing."

He couldn't help the crack. "Great. Now it's an even playing field."

After about twenty minutes, Annie had a thought and couldn't help the short giggle that escaped her. Auggie cocked his head. "Do I even want to know what's got you giggling back there?" he asked.

"Beside the obvious blind joke you haven't yet made?" she said, catching her breath.

"Which one?"

"Blind leading the blind."

"Wow, that is an obvious one. Can't believe I didn't say it first." Auggie chuckled. "Then again, the situation requires some concentration on my part." Checking the air flow at a fork in the road, he asked, "And the other reason?"

Annie gave another short giggle, then answered. "I was so against you coming with me. Good thing you insisted, huh?"

"Yeah. You'd be lost without me," he teased.

* * *

><p>Almost two hours passed without incident. With Auggie and his mental map of the underground passages in the lead, Annie felt safe with every step they took.<p>

She had to admit he was right earlier; if it had been winter, she might've been in a whole lot of trouble. But there was another thing - if she'd been alone, she would've really been alone. Their depth underground prevented reception on her cell phone, which meant her earpiece would have been useless as well. In the dark, alone, and lost were not a good combination when in unfamiliar territory.

_I guess this is how Auggie feels sometimes, _she figured.

Auggie's foot caught on something beneath the sewage. He stumbled slightly, but the change was enough to pull Annie off-balance and pitch her into the garbage. The splash and her shriek made him stop on a dime.

"Annie? You okay?" he asked worriedly.

"Ugh, yeah, I'm fine," she said in disgust. Her hands gripped his arm and tightened as she pulled herself to her feet again. "Great. Now I've got warm, sticky sewage-soaked pants to my knees. Disgusting."

Steadying her, Auggie reached out to touch the nearest wall to re-orient himself. His face scrunched up in distaste at the slime beneath his fingertips. "Can you imagine how much more miserable you'd be if the sewage was cold?"

He heard her gasp and reached to grab her arm. "Did you hurt anything?"

"No, nothing's twisted or broken. Good thing I'm not wearing my heels."

"Yeah, we don't need a broken heel to complicate this nature hike."

She could hear the laugh in his voice. "It's not funny!"

"Yes it is," Auggie said patiently. "You're just too grumpy to appreciate the humor." He squeezed her elbow reassuringly. "Don't worry. Between the two of us, we'll get out of here before the sun sets."

"I'll hold you to that."

* * *

><p>True to his word, Auggie had them out of the catacombs before sunset - and right into the arms of a CIA extraction team. They were immediately wrapping in blankets and bundled into the back of a van. Nudging Annie's shoulder with his, Auggie heaved a dramatic sigh. "I don't know about you, but I could sure go for a couple drinks at Allen's," he remarked.<p>

"Auggie, I'm a mess," she complained. That didn't stop her from reaching over and squeezing his hand. "It reeked down here. I'm gonna have to shower for a day to get the stink off my hair."

He shrugged. "I've got a shower at my place."

Once again, Annie was glad he couldn't see her blush. "You say that to all the girls you rescue from the sewers?"

"Only the hot blonde ones."

"How do you know I'm still blonde?" she teased with a nudge.

"Is that a yes?"

Annie sighed. "Fine."

Auggie's triumphant grin was bigger than the Cheshire Cat's. "Admit it. You can't get enough of me."

"You really aren't going to let this go, are you?"

"Not a chance."

"You keep it up, I'll spread the word that you're having delusions of grandeur."

In the front seat, the agent riding shotgun bumped fists with the driver and grinned at the thought of collecting on the office pool.

* * *

><p><strong>NEW EPISODES COMING UP THIS TUESDAY! SOOOOOO EXCITED!<strong>

**Ahem...Wow, 200 reviews. I'm so honored!**

**Review please!**


	30. Tussle

**Disclaimer: I don't own _Covert Affairs._**

**Prompt #29: Tussle - They both learn something while sparring in the CIA gym.**

**Words: 674**

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><p>In his defense, demonstrating the full-body pin to Annie had been less discomforting in his head.<p>

It had been a good plan in theory. They'd had very little time to spend together since her return from Russia. She was still putting the pieces of her shattered life back together. So Auggie invited her to an early-morning sparring session, kind of like the ones they'd used to have before they'd been seperated. He thought the familiarity would be comforting to her.

Now he was more uncomfortable than he'd been in a very long, long time.

Probably because he was pinning her down and there was very little space between them. It was taking all his considerable self-control not to respond to the feeling of her body beneath him.

But she was his best friend, and he was in love with her, and that would have broken her trust seven different ways from Sunday.

So he just smirked and said, "Did you forget _everything_ I've taught you, Walker?"

Those words were slammed back down his throat when she expertly flipped them over, making _him _the one pinned. _Well I'm not complaining, _his treacherous mind snickered.

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><p>In her defense, flipping Auggie onto his back was more distracting than she'd expected.<p>

When he first posed the idea of an early-morning sparring session, Annie had been all for it. She missed training in hand-to-hand combat with him. When he pinned her down, the idea of besting him - of surprising him - was a very satisfactory thought. After her most recent death-defying escapades, she needed something as normal as trying to best Auggie in the gym.

But this was anything but normal for them.

Probably because she had a starfish hold on him that had her body plastered to his and her face barely inches from his nose. It was taking everything she had not to lean down and kiss him senseless.

But he was her best friend, and she was in love with him, and that would have crossed seven different lines from wrong.

So she just chuckled and retorted, "Not quite _everything_, Anderson."

Those words were proven when he reversed their positions once more, putting _her _back on the bottom. _Not that this is a bad place to be, _her tricky mind chuckled.

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><p>Back in their original starting positions, the two agents could tell that something had changed. Or maybe had been changing for some time.<p>

Their faces were still close. Almost too close. Another few inches either way and they'd be having a different type of conversation. Neither of them were quite sure the other was ready to move those extra few inches.

"Be honest," Auggie said as flippantly as he could. "You missed this."

"Getting my ass handed to me? Hardly," Annie said with just as much glib.

The need to salvage the situation hit Auggie just then. Call it his protective instinct, call it a wish to play this all off as another normal day between them. He bent down to shoot off a snarky little one-liner.

The urge to not let this chance go by was too much for Annie. Call it decompression, call it a repressed need to thank him for everythiing he'd ever done to save her. She leaned forward to press her usual kiss to his cheek.

Imagine their surprise when their lips met halfway, making an innocent gesture turn into an unexpected lip-lock. They froze in shock, unsure of what was going to happen next.

Ever the gentleman, Auggie pulled back ever so slightly, putting the barest space between them. "Annie?" he whispered. "I - I - " Nerves made it almost impossible to get the words out of his throat.

Annie reached up and laid a finger on his lips to silence him. "Are you sorry?" she asked. Nerves made her voice almost inaudible.

"No way."

"Then neither am I." Her hand slipped around the back of his head and pulled him back down again.

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><p><strong>Hard shot of A2 fluff to make up for the fail on Tuesday. Annie should've gone to Auggie's place, not a hotel and end up at Eyal's D.C. place! WTF, <em>CA<em> writers?**

**Review please!**


	31. Bruise

**Disclaimer: I don't own _Covert Affairs._**

**Prompt #30: Bruise - She hid her injuries from everyone else, but the blind guy had to go and blow her cover.**

**Words: 827**

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><p><em>Sometimes I wonder how sane I was when I decided joining the CIA was a good idea<em>, Annie thought as she headed into the DPD. _I have to be certifiable if I keep coming to a workplace that frequently shoves you into assignments that blow up or get royally screwed up._ She hid the wince as she gingerly made her way to Joan's office. _Oh well, another day, another ding._

Her debrief was relatively straightforward. Mercifully, she was allowed to sit while giving it, and once Joan dismissed her, Annie headed for her desk for a couple hours off her feet and a chance to tackle the pile of forms on her plate.

"Hey Annie!"

"Oh, hi Clara," she said, smiling at the tech.

"That sounded like a bad fall in Istanbul. You okay?"

Annie shrugged. "Just another day in the life of a CIA operative."

"I hear you," said Clara. "Well, you should take it easy for a while." She patted Annie on the shoulder, which made the older woman grit her teeth to keep the smile from wavering. "G'night."

"Night, Clara." Annie mouthed a silent _Ow _as she turned and headed for her desk again. Once seated, she started working through the reports with single-minded determination. With some luck, she figured she could finish a good chunk of them before hobbling.

At least, that had been her intention. Until six feet of brown-haired, brown-eyed blind guy appeared by her desk and remarked, "And what do you think you're doing, Walker?"

She pasted on a smile he couldn't see and quipped, "Hey Auggie. I'm just trying to finish some reports..."

"Leave the reports til morning, Annie. I'll give you a ride home."

"You're gonna...should I be worried by that statement?"

"You'd be more worried if I actually was driving." His hand unerringly latched onto her elbow with a gentle grip, mindful of the bruises hidden by the sleeve of her blazer. "You're in no condition to drive, anyway," he added in a softer tone so nobody would overhear them. "You shouldn't even be wearing those heels with that busted ankle. And those bruises must be killing you."

Annie scowled. _How the hell had he...? _But it was a moot point. Now that he knew she was injured, Auggie would hound her like the St. Bernard that she'd once compared him to until she was properly taken care of and off her feet. She sighed and said, "Fine. I'll get my stuff."

"Atta girl."

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><p>"You didn't have to come inside," she said, unlocking the kitchen door and flipping the lights on. "Really, Auggie, I'm fine."<p>

"Humor me," he said. His hand reached out until it touched the kitchen island. "I'd ask for the grand tour, but you're hobbling a bit too much to risk it. Kick off those heels."

Annie rolled her eyes. "Yes, Mom."

"Don't roll your eyes at me, young lady."

"Are you going to mother-hen me all night?"

Auggie chuckled. "I'm considering it. After all, you did try to pull a fast one on me."

"I didn't - " Her words died in her throat when she remembered. "You were listening in on me and Clara."

"No, I actually _heard _you fall through a roof and a couple dozen wooden crates, remember? I was the little voice yelling if you were okay until you told me to shut up."

With a wry smirk she kicked off her shoes, wincing as her bare foot throbbed in pain when she tried to put weight on it. "Dammit," she hissed.

Auggie was at her side in an instant. "Where's your room?" he asked.

Between her directions and his steady footing, they managed to get to the guesthouse without tripping over anything (him) or falling flat (her). When they reached her bed, Annie couldn't help the sigh of grateful relief that escaped her lips when they sat down.

"Well that sounded painful," remarked Auggie.

"Shut up," she muttered as she shucked off her power suit jacket. "Okay, I'm in bed."

"Technically you're on the bed. Not quite there yet."

"I just want a hot bath."

"Then take one."

"Well you're not going to be here while I do."

"Awww," he playfully whined, making an exaggerated pout. "Spoilsport."

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><p>It was later that night, while soaking in a hot bath with scented aromatherapy candles, that Annie recalled her earlier thought about her questionable sanity. She slouched in the bathtub and decided to amend it.<p>

She was nuts to keep going back. No question.

But she was also patriotic. She believed she was making the world a better place. So even on her worst day, that thought made all the lies and injuries worthwhile.

Especially if she had the best bestie in the entire CIA watching out for her, so to speak.

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><p><strong>Whew! What a storm.<strong>

**So, last night we had the return of Heartbreaker Parker (grrrr) and surprise! Lies from Mossad! Next week promo looks epic!**

**Review please!**


	32. Straddle

**Disclaimer: I don't own _Covert Affairs_.**

**Prompt #31: Straddle - That was a defining moment for them both.**

**Words: 550**

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><p>I hear two pops that sound like gunfire. I can't stop to think.<p>

Nadia's in trouble.

I've got to move fast, but my way is blocked by Auggie.

It's a simple plan. Sling leg over Auggie's lap, slide across, lift other leg, then bolt from the van to save the day. It's the fastest way out. I can't stop to think about it.

His hands land on my hips, halting me mid-slide. "Annie, think this through."

"If she's in danger, I'm not just gonna sit here," I say forcefully.

His hands fly up to cup my face, stopping me again. "Annie, no."

"Auggie - " I can't think about it. If I do, I'll forget what I'm doing.

But then he pulls my face closer to his, and his lips crash against mine...And I can't think anymore. _God, _he's such a good kisser. I thought the rumors were grossly exaggerated, but I was wrong. So, so pleasantly wrong.

My lips move over his instinctively as I settle in his lap. I'm so dizzy that I need to keep my hands fisted in his shirt to stay upright. I feel his hands slide back into my hair as he deepens the kiss, and I moan against his mouth. The rest of the world fades away and it's just Auggie and me, kissing hard and fast in the back of the surveillance van.

Somewhere in my mind I remember the stakeout. Nadia. The gunfire.

But I don't stop to think about it. If I stop to think, I might lose my nerve and never get this chance back.

So I keep kissing Auggie as his hands slide down to my neck and undo every button he finds, my fingers tugging at his shirt impatiently. Our lips meld closer and faster and harder as he holds me close...

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><p><em>Holy shit! <em>

I jackknife straight up in bed, cheeks flushed and gasping for breath, as my dream suddenly goes from PG to R without stopping. _What was...was that a...oh god, I didn't just imagine that, did I? _I shake my head and blush redder than a tomato.

Ever since Danielle had been nice enough to point out my crush on Auggie, I've been having these very, _very _inappropriate dreams about certain situations I've been through with my best friend. Situations that, like the dream I'd just had, quickly devolved into fantasies that I'd never thought myself capable of imagining. Certainly not with Auggie.

But hey, can you blame me? I'm a healthy, straight, hot-blooded woman with needs. He's six feet of walking, talking, geeky eye candy that I've had the good fortune to call my friend for almost three years.

So dreaming of Auggie and I doing some hot and heavy breathing is crossing all sorts of wrong lines. No matter how overactive my imagination is at creating those types of situations..._Ugh, I have to stop before I start daydreaming about it as well. _

I glance at my clock and see that I've woken up an hour earlier than usual. Perfect. I'll just grab a shower before heading into Langely.

A nice, long, ice-cold shower.

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><p><strong>I'm back! With some awkward Annie moments to enjoy!<strong>

**Also...FINALLY, THEY KISSED! IN REAL LIFE! YES!**

**Review please!**


	33. Overload

**Disclaimer: I don't own _Covert Affairs._**

**Prompt #32: Overload - "Auggie!" Annie shouted, seeing her best friend drop to the ground and clutch his head.**

**Words: 871**

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><p>The first thing Auggie registered upon his return to consciousness was the fact that he was lying down on a somewhat comfortable bed. The second thing he registered was the smell of antiseptic, latex, and that prickly-sharp smell that just makes people think <em>Hospital<em>. He groaned in annoyance and stretched his back, blinking to unstick his glued eyelids. "Anyone around?" he called out hopefully.

"Auggie. Good, you're awake."

_Thank God, a familiar voice. _"Hey Joan. Mind telling me what I'm doing at Walter Reed?"

"What do you remember?"

_Never a good reply_. But Auggie decided to keep quiet and do what his boss asked. "Uh, let's see...van. I was in the van."

"Good start. What followed?"

"Annie was inside the office and hit a snag. I couldn't talk her through it." She'd been trying to allow him to remote-hack a close-circuit computer system, but the technology was too difficult for him to explain how to detour everything. He'd grabbed his cane and ordered Annie to get her butt downstairs, he'd do it himself. "I headed for the side door and she headed down to come get me."

"All right. Then what?"

"We headed upstairs..." Auggie frowned, scrunching his eyebrows together as he tried to clear the fogginess in his head. "We were on the third floor...Annie was describing the layout when I heard something. It was strange, really high-pitched and whistle-like. I asked Annie about it, but she said she didn't hear it." He could hear scribbling, like she was taking notes. "I kept hearing it, and then I started to get a really bad headache. Annie said something about getting nauseous...wait, where is Annie?" He sat up straight in bed, turning his head from side to side. "Annie? Annie?" he called out.

Joan's hand landed on his shoulder, firm and unyielding. "Auggie, calm down. Annie's fine, she's down the hall getting checked out by the doctors."

"What's wrong with her?" Auggie demanded.

"She has a small forehead wound, three fractured knuckles and two bruised ribs. Nothing too serious."

"How the hell did that happen?" He couldn't recall any fighting.

The hand on his shoulder pushed gently, coaxing him to lie back. "That high-pitched whistling you heard was a form of security feature. Breaking into the office triggered an ultrasonic pulse that results in unconsciousness. You were affected more quickly because of your heightened sense of hearing. Annie sent out an SOS when you collapsed."

Auggie could vaguely recall Annie yelling his name as the migraine had fogged out his hearing. _That was probably when I blacked out. _"That doesn't explain why she's injured."

"She was engaged."

He could connect the dots from there. With him down for the count, Annie would have defended him tooth and nail regardless of the mission. She'd done it in Barcelona, losing the case to come back and make sure he was still alive. He'd been furious about it then, but he'd also been grateful.

"Obviously she was victorious," Joan finished unnecessarily. "The attackers are being questioned as we speak."

"Can I see her?"

"I figured you'd want that." He could practically _hear _Joan smiling. "She's just down the hallway."

Auggie reached out and found Joan's elbow, gripping slightly to orient himself as he got to his feet. He had to curb his impatience when Joan seemed to walk slower than usual. Only ignorance of Annie's room number prevented him from striking off on his own.

After five minutes of the slowest progress down a hallway, Joan finally stopped in front of a doorway and said, "Here she is."

He smiled as he made his way inside the room. "Candygram for Miss Walker," he joked.

"Hey Auggie," Annie chuckled. He heard her sit up in bed carefully, hissing in pain from her bruised ribs. "Your head all right?"

"I'm no longer hearing pennywhistles, if that's what you mean." Finding the bedside without any trouble, Auggie's hand crawled over her sheets to tangle with her fingers. "How about you? I hope you played nice with the other boys."

"Shut up," she giggled. Her voice quickly grew serious. "You all right?"

"No," he replied honestly. His free hand reached out to cup her cheek, and he leaned forward until their foreheads touched. Inhaling her scent, he breathed, "But I'll get there soon."

She leaned against him. "I'm fine, Auggie."

"Fractured knuckles, bruised ribs and a head wound don't translate to 'fine' for normal people, Annie."

"Since when have you ever thought of me as normal?" she teased. Her hand tightened around his. "God, you had me worried. When you dropped to the ground, I almost had a heart attack."

He grinned sheepishly. "I guess we've given each other a pretty bad scare."

"Doctor says I can leave in a day."

"Good. You're coming home with me. No arguments."

"Wasn't planning on arguing."

"Good." He took a small breath and whispered, "Is Joan gone?"

Annie's head moved slightly. "Yeah."

"Good," he said again. Then he kissed her.

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><p><strong>And YES! FINALLY! THESE TWO FINALLY GOT TOGETHER!<strong>

**Review please! Almost at 250 reviews!**


	34. Distracting

**Disclaimer: I don't own _Covert Affairs _or the season finale.**

**Prompt #33: Distracting - For her, it was her eyes. For him, it was his hands.**

**Words: 694**

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><p>After a few bedroom grappling sessions, Annie found herself staring at the face of the sleeping man beside her. His hand was splayed across her stomach, the weight and heat of it a comforting feeling against her skin.<p>

_It took three years to get to this point, _she thought. _Why the hell did I wait so long?_

But she knew why. She had been burned too harshly by those before him. Caution and fear of being burned again had made Annie honor the boundries of friendship. He was too close a friend to risk ruining what they had.

Auggie had always been a handsome man. She'd known that from day one. Even when he was just her friend, it hurt to hear some of the water cooler gossip about his string of one-night stands. Hearing the women who'd known him titter about the way he made them feel...it sometimes took an extra cup of water to cool the flush in her cheeks.

Then Danielle had to go and state the obvious crush she was nursing, and the flushes got way, _way_ worse.

He was extremely fit, that she knew. Training sessions with him in hand-to-hand combat allowed a closeness that she knew few people were privy to. She knew how his body moved, how he could block her punches and catch her in a full pin as easily as he could hack into so-called "secure" databases, with minimal effort.

She used her eyes for a lot. While primarily an auditory learner, Annie was fairly adept at translating the visual. It was an invaluable skill for a field agent. And right now, they were soaking up a lot of information.

"I can literally _hear _you thinking, Walker."

Her smile bloomed without conscious effort at the muffled voice from her best friend. "I thought you were still asleep."

"I was." His eyelids rose to half-mast, revealing the sleep-glazed orbs behind them. The hand on her stomach slowly traced a pathway up to her neck, making her shiver and flush in tandem. He couldn't help the grin that bloomed across his face.

"Stop smiling. Nobody likes a smug bastard." Words that held absolutely no rebuke once her lips pressed against his.

He returned the kiss, pulling back just enough to keep brushing against hers as he asked, "Penny for your thoughts."

Annie swallowed, her throat suddenly dry as sandpaper. "Just thinking about...this. I don't regret it," she quickly assured him. "It's just...I don't know what this means for us now."

That lazy smile of his returned, but Annie could see the trace of nervousness at its edges. "I won't lie to you, I don't have a good idea about what this means for us either," Auggie admitted. "But we're pretty smart people. Well, I am, at least."

"Smug bastard."

"Point is, between the two of us, I think we can figure this out." His hand started to move again, slipping up to trace her jawline. Feeling her tense up beneath his fingertips, Auggie smiled. _He _was making her hot and bothered with just a touch.

Annie had always been an amazing woman. He'd known that from the first time they'd met. Hearing about her stunning good looks from every other sighted person in the building really didn't help dampen the torch he secretly carried for her. Sometimes he had to crank up the Mingus in his headphones to drown out the muffled wolf-whistles and appreciative whispers as she passed by.

She was petite and beautiful, that he knew. Their training sessions gave him an intimate knowledge of her body's dimensions that very few others knew. He knew how her body moved, how she could easily break a chokehold and slide into a takedown as smoothly as she could change languages, on the fly.

He used his hands for a lot. Whether he was reading Braille or plotting his way through an unfamiliar room, Auggie put a lot of focus into translating what his hands "saw."

And right now, he was "seeing" quite a lot.

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><p><strong>...Yeah, not so sure about this one. A nice tag to the finale, but not really fitting the prompt.<strong>

**Review please!**


	35. Digits

**Disclaimer: I don't own _Covert Affairs._**

**Prompt #34: Digits - _Time to see if this really does work, _Annie thought, flipping open the stolen satellite phone and punching in the number she knew by heart.**

**Words: 697**

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><p>Annie couldn't help swearing in multiple languages as she ducked inside a storefront to regain her breath. While the ache in her shoulder hurt like hell and her head felt like a swarm of hummingbirds were dive-bombing her brain, at least she wasn't shot or otherwise bleeding. That would've really complicated matters.<p>

Not like they weren't already complicated enough. Bad intel and a dead contact meant that a rival agency was gunning for her asset. Thankfully the asset in question was already on her way out of the country, smuggled out through a cargo ship bound for the drop-off point.

Unfortunately, Annie had not been able to hop that ship as well. Their pursuers had caught up with her and forced the blonde agent to lead them on a merry chase through the city. A stolen bicycle had helped put distance between them, but Annie knew her window of escape was starting to close alarmingly fast.

_I need a phone_, she thought. _A phone and a safe place to make a call. _But to who?

The beginnings of a plan started to form in her mind as she struck out again. She had just enough money to buy a burner phone, and once she was safely hidden again, she dialed the operator and asked to place a collect call to a number she'd hoped to never use, but thanked her lucky stars that she knew.

_I'm going to owe him a pretty damn good sandwich for this save._

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><p>When one cell phone in his desk drawer started ringing, Auggie immediately knew which one it was. Joan, who was waiting with him for an update on Annie's condition, was startled enough to yelp, "The hell is that?"<p>

"Annie playing her get-out-of-jail card." He flipped the phone open and answered, "Hello?"

A cool operator's voice replied, "_You have a collect call from Charlene Mingus. Do you accept the charges? Press one to - _" He quickly pressed the button. "_Hold please._"

After thirty agonizing seconds, he heard Annie's forced chipper voice saying, "_Hey hun, how's your day going?_"

"Pretty dull day at the office, babe," he replied, putting her on speaker. "How's your vacation?"

"_Ugh, I'm all vacationed out. I think it's time I cut it short. Mind booking me a flight home?_"

"Sure, hang on a second." His hands tapped over his keyboard as he called up satallite images. "What's your preference? First-class or business?"

"_First-class all the way._"

"I got a flight in two hours out of the airport. That fast enough?"

"_Perfect. Thanks hun. See you when I get home._"

"Bye." Auggie disconnected the call just seconds after his computer pinged. "And I've got her."

"Hun?" Joan repeated. He could picture her eyebrow rising in silent demand of an explaination. "What was that about?"

"Annie and I worked out a protocol in case she ever had to call me through an unsecured line. Cutting a trip short means she has to get out. First-class means ASAP. Flight means cargo plane." He was already pulling strings to have a cargo plane ready for Annie when she did arrive at the airport.

"I'm aware of the protocol, Auggie," said Joan. "But that's not what I asked. I asked, _Hun? What was that about?_"

Auggie managed to keep from blushing. "It - sells better if we act like a couple," he said.

"Uh-huh."

"In case someone listens in on the call."

"I see."

"It throws people off - "

Joan's hand patted his shoulder, making him stop mid-explaination. "Whatever you say. Bring Annie home." Her heels started to click out his door, but paused. "I'll expect Close and Continuing paperwork when this is over."

Ears red, Auggie pulled his headphones back on and fell to typing again. He couldn't think about how Joan found out about them, or how to break it to Annie. First, he had to bring his girl home.

If he had listened longer, he would've heard Joan's soft, triumphant "Yes!" that accompanied a small fist pump of victory.

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><p><strong>I'm back! By the way, Joan's victory fist pump is her winning the office pool.<strong>

**Review please!**


	36. Antacid

**Disclaimer: I don't own _Covert Affairs, _just the OCs mentioned.**

**Prompt #35: Antacid - She upped his heart attack quota by a good dozen every month since arriving at Langely.**

**Words: 936**

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><p>Clara Piper had seen many strange things since starting at the CIA, but nothing trumped seeing Auggie Anderson tearing through his drawers with the frenzy of a madman. She knocked lightly on his glass walls and asked, "Lose something, boss?"<p>

His head popped up and zeroed on the sound. "Clara, you got any antacids in your desk?"

_Tums? Why would he - Oh. _"Annie give you another bad scare?"

"Just tell me if you have any."

"Sure, boss man. I think I've got some left." Clara went to retrieve the medicine from her own desk. She returned to see that Auggie had collapsed in his chair and was scrubbing his face with his hands. A smile worked its way across her face as she stepped inside the office. "Got them."

The bottle was passed, and Auggie dumped the three remaining tablets into his hand. "Only three?"

"You're not the only one who's had a rough couple months with their agent," Clara remarked, leaning her hip against his desk. "What did Annie do?"

"Just nearly got herself blown up. Again."

"So, same old?"

"Same old." He gave a wry smile as he popped the Tums into his mouth. "Is Hill giving you much trouble?" he asked around a mouthful of chalk.

"Dexter Hill is an ass," she corrected him. "I think I'm three months away from developing a very lovely ulcer to match the twitch in my eye."

"That's nothing. Wait til you hit the year mark. I swear Annie aged me five years."

"I don't know if we'll survive that long, Boss. Dexter flies by the seat of his pants and constantly thinks protocol is something that you consult _after _the mission's over. He gives me a heart attack every time he goes out into the field."

"Better get used to that," Auggie warned her. "It only gets worse from here on out."

"But that's not all," she added. "He's a shameless bastard and treats me like his personal secretary, asks me to move mountains and alter gravity at a moment's notice, not to mention he's a complete and utter _bastard."_

"Hill's a maverick, but he gets his missions done with minimal negative fallout," Auggie said fairly. "He's one of the best rookie operatives we've got."

Clara rolled her eyes despite knowing it did absolutely nothing for her case. "And lemme guess - he's my agent because I'm one of your best newbies?"

"There is that."

"There was something else?"

Her boss shrugged. "Do you know how Annie and I first met?"

"Joan had you show her around her first day." It was a legend among the DPD personnel. They clicked in the first ten minutes, and less than two days later they were talking their way out of a county morgue. From there, they were thick as thieves and almost as reckless.

"I knew putting you two together was risky, but Joan said she thought - "

"Wait, Joan stuck me with him?"

"Duh. You really didn't think I had that kind of pull, did you?" Clara awkwardly swallowed as Auggie chuckled. "The point is, you two didn't try to put up false faces. He didn't immediately try to charm his way into your pants, and you didn't put up that sugar-princess act you do to lull people into a false sense of security. You both seemed to size each other up as a hard act to fool."

"Is there a point here?"

"How did your first day go with Hill?"

"You mean that absolute shitstorm involving the FBI, a runaway taxi, and not one, not two, but _three _Chechen assassins running loose in downtown D.C. after a valuable asset?"

"You left out the successful completion of the mission."

"And let's not forget the paperwork in triplicate I had to fill out for damage control." Clara groaned and rubbed her temple, the memory making her migraine return.

"But it got done. And you both displayed remarkable teamwork for a freshly matched pair of agent and handler."

She rolled her eyes again. "But that was almost six months ago, Boss. And he - he never wants to - "

"Wants to what?"

"Hang out. Like you and Annie do. He's always taking off by himself."

Auggie crossed his arms and shrugged. "He's a loner, you know that. You gotta let him open up on his own terms. And if you care to recall, Annie and I haven't always been bosom companions."

She knew about the rough couple months that had followed Annie's reassignment to Lena Smith's division. "But you worked through it. How?"

"After many failed attempts to try and talk out what had happened to us. Not to mention a lot of Tums."

"Fabulous. Something to look forward to."

Auggie snickered. "Sounds like you really miss him."

"A month-long training seminar surrounded by Farm-fresh graduates? Yeah right." But there was a note of fondness in her voice. "I'm more worried about the possible paternity suits."

"Of course you are." His unseeing brown eyes lit up. "Want some ice-breaker advice?"

"Please."

"After he gets back, offer Hill a beer. We men are remarkably easy to ply when we're offered free booze and the company of a pretty woman."

"Oh, is that all it takes?"

"Heed my words, young grasshopper, and you too shall cultivate a good friendship with your agent."

"Right," the young woman scoffed, crossing her arms with a surly growl. "More like an ulcer and acid reflux."

"Why don't you head home?"

"Okay. Night boss." She turned to leave and spotted Annie Walker entering the darkened DPD. "Hey Annie," she said with a wave as the two women approached each other.

"Thanks. Night, Clara," Annie said absently, almost going right through the tech as she made her way towards Auggie's office. As if he heard her footsteps (which would not be a stretch of his abilities) Auggie stood up and spread his arms wide to envelop the blonde agent in a crushing embrace. His lips moved, and as Clara was a master lip-reader, she could make out exactly what he said.

_What're you trying to do, give me a heart attack?_

A small smile worked its way across Clara's mouth as she quietly left the office, leaving the pair to themselves. Pulling out her phone, she sent a quick text to Hill.

**When u get back, wanna grab a drink at Allen's together?**

His reply came back in under a minute.

**If ur buying.**

Clara rolled her eyes but smiled. Auggie was right. Nothing would change unless she took that first step.

**Ur on.**

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><p><strong>This just morphed into something kind of interestingly OC-centric with traces of A2. Oops.<strong>

**Review please!**


	37. Seperation

**Disclaimer: I don't own _Covert Affairs _or the new episodes would be playing already!**

**Prompt #36: Seperation - The seventh-floor bigwigs had no idea what they'd done.**

**Words: 1,173**

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><p>Auggie was inconsolable after the order came down from above.<p>

Annie would argue differently, but Auggie knew it was his fault. He'd talked her into going into the field with her, knowing her limited ability to manually hack, and the system she was trying to access had no remote signal to allow Auggie to remain off-site. The op had gone slightly sideways, resulting in the blind tech straining his wrist from a fall and the agent getting a gash along her leg. The mission itself was completed with limited fallout, but two days later, Joan had come into Auggie's office and told the pair that the shadowy heads of the CIA had ordered their immediate seperation.

Annie was gone the next morning. As in reassigned. As in across the ocean, working in a CIA office in London.

After she'd gone, Auggie had moved into her guesthouse in an attempt to be near her, however vaguely. Being surrounded by her things helped a little, but not enough. He missed the woman who had made the space come alive. Who made him feel alive.

She tried to call him as often as possible. From what Auggie could tell, the separation was affecting Annie badly as well. Her tone was flat and tired, and the snark all but vanished from her voice. But she would always open with a joke or a quip about London air, and the concern for his well-being was almost tangible. So for her, Auggie always managed to smile and joke around.

After three months of pretending everything was all right, he was strung out and tired. It was stupid, he knew. Auggie himself had warned her; nothing was ever really permanent at the CIA, and it was best to work on that assumption. But that was when he knew she'd still be able to see him, talk to him, touch his sleeve in public greeting or thread her fingers between the spaces of his in private longing.

But now she was gone.

Because of him.

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><p>Clara Piper couldn't help grimacing sympathetically as she watched Auggie type through decryptions with the air of an automaton. He rarely laughed anymore. His appetite waned. The spring in his step disappeared overnight. But professionally, he powered through her work as if he were a machine.<p>

After three months of this new Auggie Anderson, she was ready to go crazy.

Scooting her chair closer to her boss's desk, she rested an elbow on the glass surface and said, "C'mon Boss, let's blow this joint."

"You go ahead, Clara," he said tonelessly, fingers never leaving his keyboard. "I want to finish this."

"C'mon sir. It's after ten-thirty." The DPD was as quiet as a cemetary and just as bare of life. The only reason Clara was still burning midnight oil was because Dexter had fallen behind on his paperwork and she didn't want to get in trouble for his filing late again. "I'm going to meet Dexter at Allen's. Taking your advice about plying him with beer to get him to open up. Want to come along?" she tempted, rising from her seat. When he gave a listless shake of his head, the younger tech headed out to her car.

Dexter was sitting at their customary corner table when she arrived at Allen's. He looked up when she arrived and asked, "Where were you? It's almost eleven_. _I was about to call the National Guard."

"Tried to tempt Auggie into coming with, but he didn't bite." She slid into his seat and sighed. "I'm worried about him, Hill. He's still hurting."

The older man shrugged helplessly. "Auggie and her...well, you can't just rip apart two people as close as they were and expect the two pieces to heal clean_._"

Clara smiled at his words. "You're waxing unusually poetic tonight."

"Did it turn you on?" She muttered a quick Portuguese swear. "Don't tease me, sweetheart, I'll think you want me to do what you say."

"You're an ass_._" But the wobble in her tone betrayed her. She was just as worried about the pair as Dexter was. "I just wish there was something we could do to help them..."

"Is that so?" Both rookies looked up to see their boss standing over their table. "Because if that's the case, there's something I could use your help with."

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><p>Three months without him was hell.<p>

But now she was going home. Annie didn't know how many strings were pulled or who orchestrated her return to D.C, but she didn't give a damn. All she cared about was seeing Auggie again. It was almost an itch, making her twitchy and irritable all the way to Heathrow Airport. The flight seemed unending, like she was stuck in an airless box. Her fingers drummed frantic patterns on both knees until they were wheels-down in Dulles.

Once she disembarked, Annie was relieved to hear Clara's voice calling her name. The two women chattered excitedly as Clara led her through the airport and into the backseat of an unfamiliar car. Annie looked at the driver and smirked. "Dexter Hill. How did you ever convince Clara to let you drive anywhere?"

"She asked for my help, Annie. Have a good flight home?"

His words were entirely too innocently said. The seasoned agent started putting the pieces together. "You two did something, didn't you?"

"No idea what you're talking about," Clara responded as they started to drive.

"Clara..."

"You know a guy called Mortimer?"

"I know one of the CIA's movers and shakers is supposedly called Mortimer," Annie said slowly. Their identities were guarded more securely than the nuke silo codes. "Why?"

Dexter chuckled. "Let's just say that Joan and Arthur have got a mighty good friend high up on the food chain, sir. Someone who believes you and Anderson really aren't meant to be separated." The car pulled to a stop. "Curbside service."

"Where are we?" Auggie opened the door and gaped as Clara unloading her bags. "Clara, you brought me home?"

"We brought you home, Annie." There was a hitch in her voice that painted the image of a Puckish smile on her face. "Got you a housewarming gift too."

The way she said it made Annie's heart start pounding in expectation. She didn't realize she was walking until her feet took her to the open backyard gate. Her eyes landed on the opening front door of her guesthouse. Or, more specifically, the brown-haired man currently standing on her guesthouse threshold like some sort of wonderful _I'm sorry_ gift from the universe.

His lips pulled back in a smile she'd been seeing in her dreams for the past three months. "Annie? That you?"

Words failed her, so Annie ran into his arms and kissed him hard enough to answer his question.

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><p><strong>Awwww. Yeah, can't keep them apart.<strong>

**Sorry it took so long! Can I still get some reviews? Please? *puppy eyes* We're almost to 300...**


	38. Breakdown

**Disclaimer: I don't own _Covert Affairs_. Wish the new season would hurry up and get here!**

**Prompt #37: Breakdown - It wasn't often that she could help him, and Annie would be damned if she let him push her away.**

**Words: 881**

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><p>It's always hard to hear those words echoing through Langley's halls.<p>

_"The op went bad. They lost the ground team_."

Usually those words were a tough pill to swallow alone. But when Annie heard them, all the air rushed out of her lungs in one gasp. Because she knew who was working the line for that particular op. Because she knew who the ground team was comprised of.

Auggie. He'd lost more than just an op and a team. A guy from his old unit was leading the ground team. He'd lost his friend.

_I have to be there for him_, she thought. Dropping everything on her desk, the blonde agent made double-time for Auggie's office, hoping to catch her friend before he disappeared. But when she looked inside, he was already gone. _Dammit. Already gone._

"Auggie left an hour ago," came Clara's small voice from behind her.

Glancing at Joan's office and weighing her options, Annie sighed. _Hell, it's Auggie. __Better to beg forgiveness than ask permission. _"If anyone asks, I got sick and went home."

"He's hurting, Annie." The amount of worry in her eyes made the analyst look like a scared little girl. "He's in such a bad way - "

"Don't worry," Annie assured her. "I won't let him bully me out of helping him."

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><p>There was no answer at his front door. Not that she was really expecting one. Checking to make sure nobody saw, Annie knelt down and started picking the lock on the door. Within seconds she was sliding the door open and stepping inside.<p>

Judging from the mess, he'd swept everything off his coffee table and any flat surface he could find in a fit of rage. She stepped carefully around the scattered items and broken shards of some unidentifiable object, looking through the gloom of the unlit apartment to see where her best friend was currently hiding.

He wasn't hard to find. He huddled on his bed, sheets torn every which way, his face buried in his pillow, and from the small shaking of his shoulders, he hadn't completely cried himself out yet. So Annie turned away and started searching for a broom as quietly as she could.

"Annie?"

"Hey." Annie stepped closer to his bed. "I heard about your friend - "

"Why are you here?" There was almost no hint of her loveable St. Bernard in that angry snarl. "Did Clara send you?"

"No, I wanted to come over anyway. You know, like girlfriends are known to do." Using the G-word seemed appropriate for the current situation.

Until Auggie demanded, "Oh, so this is pity?" sounding like a grizzly bear that'd been roused from the depths of hibernation. "You pitying me now?"

Remembering Clara's words, Annie didn't take his anger to heart. "No, I'm not. I'm just stopping by to make sure you're doing okay." Her voice regained the familiar teasing edge she saved specifically for Auggie. "Love what you've done with the place, by the way."

He burrowed his face deeper into his pillow. "Go away."

"Auggie - "

"I don't want you here right now."

Drawing herself up to her full height, Annie put her hands on her hips. "Well I'm here now, and I can't leave while there's broken glass everywhere. So you can either talk to me while I clean up, or you can ignore me as I clean up." With that declaration Annie turned on one heel and strode back out to the living room to continue cleaning.

After every shard of glass was picked up, all the trash was collected, and the apartment was put back into some semblance of its original pristine order, Annie put away the dustpan and broom back in the closet where she'd found them. She purposely didn't look back into Auggie's bedroom as she gathered her purse and jacket.

It wasn't her place to demand to stay now that her task was completed. He needed time to mourn. He'd call when he was ready, she knew.

"Annie?" he called out as she was opening the door to leave. His voice was heavy with sorrow and apology.

"Yeah?"

"Don't..." He seemed to need a moment more before asking softly, "Don't go. Please."

Annie shut the door and turned to face the man she loved. "Wouldn't dream of it, Auggie." In seconds she was across the room and wrapping her arms around him, guiding his head to rest on her shoulder. "I'm not going anywhere."

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><p>Joan was pleasantly surprised to see a cheerful, smiling Auggie back to work next morning. After such a devestating loss, she'd expected him to disappear for a few days, forcing her to make a trip to his home and making sure he was okay. Very few things set Auggie off, and the loss of one of his friends had dealt the tech a heavy blow.<p>

But here he was, still sad but not as broken up as expected, smiling at Annie and -

Oh. Annie_._

_Of course. _Joan smiled and nodded once to herself. _He has Annie to help him pick up the pieces now_.

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><p><strong>Yes, I'm back. Some hurtcomfort here as an apology for taking so long.**

**Review please!**


	39. Headphones

**Disclaimer: I don't own _Covert Affairs._**

**Prompt #38: Headphones - And people really believed he was actually working.**

**Words: 728**

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><p>He can feel her eyes on the back of his neck.<p>

Typing up reports on his computer, Auggie can't help smirking. He knows what Annie is thinking; since his headphones are on and playing music, there was no way he'd hear her if she decided to, say, sneak up on him.

_Ametuer._

Many a person in the DPD has made such a speculation, and always try once to catch him off-guard. But they only try once. Auggie's ability to tell when people enter and leave a room was legendary, almost mythic, and very few people were capable of even concealing the fact that they weren't who he thought they were.

People always seem to forget that he has other heightened senses besides his hearing. If he really concentrates, Auggie could feel the barest vibrations across the hardwood floor that tells him Annie was carefully sneaking up on him. Inhaling quietly, he could just detect that hint of grapefruit that preceded Annie everywhere she went. And when he goes completely still, Auggie would swear he could _feel _Annie approaching.

"Sneaking up on your blind boyfriend now, Walker?" Auggie pulls off his headphones and swivels in his chair, his smirk widening across his lips. "I've been expecting you to do it, but really? In my own home?"

"Okay, that's insane," she says, sounding exasperated. "I'm glaring at you, by the way. I'm barefoot, wearing no perfume, and I know I made absolutely no sound. How in the hell did you sense me coming?"

"I used The Force," he deadpans.

She chuckles, a sound that never fails to make Auggie's heart speed up. "You're such a dork, you know that?"

"You've mentioned it once or twice." He beckons her closer with one hand, and when her fingers touch his skin, it's like a live wire shooting pure electricity through his body. "But you love me anyway."

Her body joins his in the small chair as her forehead nestles in the crook of his shoulder, her chuckle reverberating across his chest. "Awful sure of that, huh Anderson?"

"Tell me I'm wrong."

Annie shakes her head slightly. "Nah."

"So you surrender?" he teases.

"I'm lulling you into a false sense of security." She snuggles closer and sighs, "I'll get you eventually, you know."

"I'd expect nothing less from you." The need to kiss her proves too much to ignore, so he turns his head to press his lips to her forehead. "I didn't mean to wake you."

"You didn't." Her fingers tangle with his and squeeze. "I actually wanted to ask you something."

She sounds like she's been thinking long and hard about this decision. Auggie tilts his head closer. "What is it?"

"It's nothing bad. Just...well..." She shifts against him, like she's nervous about what it is she wants to ask him. "Can we...do we need to..." He hears her swallow nervously, and suddenly the answer comes to him.

"No, we don't have to file Close and Continuing. We just tell Joan and she tells Arthur."

She smacks his chest lightly, as if in reproach. "How the hell do you do that? And don't you dare quote _Star Wars._"

"Spoilsport," he pouts, hugging her closer. "But seriously, it's fine."

"They won't split us up?"

"No way in hell," he promises, and he means it. Joan would never split them up, and Arthur would back her play all the way. If, for some reason, they did recieve those orders, Auggie still had some favors that would make it tough for anyone to take Annie from him.

He'd waited too long and risked too much for the CIA to steal her away.

Suddenly Annie's lips are on his own, and when he reciprocates the kiss, Auggie smiles when he hears her moan. She pulls away much too soon, but then her voice is purring in his ear, "So, you gonna finish downloading your newest jazz album or are you coming back to bed?"

Like that's even a choice. He immediately pulls his headphones off and puts his computer to sleep, then cradles Annie in his arms and carries her back to bed. Her delighted squeal only ends when his mouth covers hers again.

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><p><strong>Double update for you all! This one's from Auggie's POV.<strong>

**Review please!**


	40. Sixth

**Disclaimer: I don't own _Covert Affairs._**

**Prompt #39: Sixth - Swear to God that man was psychic sometimes.**

**Words: 723**

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><p>His shoulders are barely jiggling to the beat as his fingers fly across the Braille board with customary lightning speed. Watching with a smile on her face, Annie stifles her giggle at the sight of her shirtless boyfriend tapping away on his computer.<p>

_Working, my ass_. Auggie does the same thing at work, come to think of it. Bobbing his head to a beat that nobody else could hear, those headphones practically glued to the sides of his head as he supposedly "listened" to reports.

Those who strain their ears to listen could sometimes hear the faint notes of jazz emanating from the headphones. Like Annie could right now, from across the room. But he never gets caught. It's a thoroughly annoying yet endearing trait of his.

Making absolutely no sound, she carefully pads across the hardwood floor towards Auggie's back. A slow, diabolical smile works its way across her lips as she closes the distance between them. Ten steps...eight steps...six...five...four...she can almost stretch out her arms and touch him...

"Sneaking up on your blind boyfriend now, Walker?" Annie throws up her hands in defeat as Auggie pulls off his headphones and swivels in his chair, a supervillain's smile appearing to match the one that just vacated her own lips. "I've been expecting you to do it, but really? In my own home?"

"Okay, that's insane," she says, hands on her hips. "I'm glaring at you, by the way. I'm barefoot, wearing no perfume, and I know I made absolutely no sound. How in the hell did you sense me coming?"

"I used The Force," he deadpans.

She can't help the chuckle that escapes her throat. "You're such a dork, you know that?"

"You've mentioned it once or twice." He beckons her closer, and Annie takes the offered hand gladly. "But you love me anyway."

She chuckles again as she snuggles in his lap. "Awful sure of that, huh Anderson?"

"Tell me I'm wrong," he challenges.

He knows she can't, so she doesn't bother trying. "Nah."

"So you surrender?"

"I'm lulling you into a false sense of security," she mumbles, content to remain in his arms. "I'll get you eventually, you know."

"I'd expect nothing less from you." Auggie moves beneath her and presses a kiss to her forehead. "I didn't mean to wake you."

"You didn't." Remembering what had made her leave bed in the first place, Annie seeks out his hand for comfort. "I actually wanted to ask you something."

From the way his head moves closer, it's clear he's worried about what that sentence precedes. "What is it?"

"It's nothing bad," she assures him. "Just...well..." Snuggling closer, Annie takes a deep breath and tries to voice the question that's long remained gnawing at her heart. "Can we...do we need to..." She swallows past the lump in her throat.

"No, we don't have to file Close and Continuing. We just tell Joan and she tells Arthur."

She blinks in shock. _Psychic much? _Surprise fades to wry amusement as Annie lightly hits his chest. "How the hell do you do that?" she demands. "And don't you dare quote _Star Wars_," she adds when that geek smile reappears.

"Spoilsport." His arms tighten around her as his tone returns to seriousness. "But seriously, it's fine."

"They won't split us up?" Now that it was out in the open, Annie bites her lip. _If he says yes_...

"No way in hell." The way he says it, if it came from anyone else, would have sounded like an empty promise. But Annie knew better. After the last time they split up, Joan had said in no uncertain terms that it would never happen again.

She leans up to kiss Auggie again, and a low moan escapes her throat when he reciprocates. "So, you gonna finish downloading your newest jazz album or are you coming back to bed?" she asks, already knowing the answer.

Auggie immediately pulls off his headphones and puts his computer to sleep. Annie squeals as he picks her up in his arms and makes excellent time back to his bed, where they collapse on his sheets and start kissing again.

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><p><strong>And here's the same scene from Annie's POV! Enjoy!<strong>

**Review please!**


	41. Line

**Disclaimer: I don't own _Covert Affairs._**

**Prompt #40: Line - He hadn't found one he couldn't cross for her. Until now.**

**Words: 264**

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><p>"Auggie, please?"<p>

"No way."

"Pleeeeeeeee - "

"What makes you think that'll work on me?"

"..."

"You do realize pouting and puppy eyes are equally ineffective, right?"

"Auggie..."

"Get someone else to do it."

"But you're my _best friend_."

"And your point is?"

"This is usually the best friend's job."

"Usually. _Usually_ is the operative word here, Walker."

"Why are you acting so weird about this?"

"Because I don't know what brought this on, and frankly I'm a little worried."

"About what?"

"Should I list my concerns chronologically or alphabetically?"

"...Okay, you've seen Sherlock Holmes too many times."

"Robert Downey Jr. is amazing."

"Change in conversation noted and redirected. What's got you balking?"

"Historically speaking, this doesn't really end too well for you..."

"..."

"...You still there?"

"That's why you don't want to come along? Because you're expecting me to start another international incident?"

"No, because when anybody CIA _does _tagalong with you, the international incidents aren't that far behind."

"You worry too much, Auggie. I'm not even going out of the country this time."

"You didn't go out of the country at Niagara Falls, and look how that one turned out."

"C'mon, if not for me, do it for the girls."

"...You're playing the uncle card."

"Damn straight."

"..."

"Auggie..."

"...I'm not wearing those ears."

"Absolutely not."

"Nor am I taking a picture with any of the characters."

"Of course."

"...But Disney World? Really, Annie?"

"..."

"...Stop smirking, Walker." *sigh* "Fine."

"Yay!" *smooch* "Thanks Auggie!"

*sigh* "The things I do for you..."

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><p><strong>Little conversational piece of fluff!<strong>

**We're down to the final ten now! Review please!**


	42. Workout

**Disclaimer: I don't own _Covert Affairs._**

**Prompt #41: Workout - Watching him go up against the punching bag, Annie fervently hoped he never changed his routine.**

**Words: 507**

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><p>After an exceptionally grueling mission, Annie tried to get into the CIA early enough to start her leftover paperwork. Waking up at the ass-crack of dawn was hell on her body, but she forced herself to do so. <em>It's completely worth it, <em>she told herself.

And boy, was it.

Across the gym, Auggie whaling away at a punching bag with deliberate punches and kicks. He'd been going for quite time time already, judging from his sweat-soaked hair and the large dark spots on his shirt. There was such a focused look on his face that Annie doubted he would hear her even if she shouted his name.

Not that she was going to. No, because then he'd interrupt his routine, and why would she do that? This kept him in fantastic shape and gave Auggie one of the best bodies she'd ever seen a man possess. As if his inside sweetness didn't already eclipse his outside hotness.

Yeah, Annie had a not-so-subtle crush on her best friend and CIA mentor. That crush translated to an almost obsessive appreciation for everything he did, including his early-morning workout in the CIA gym that he did almost every day.

She wasn't the only one who appreciated his physique. He consistently ranked in the top three spots on the CIA's Top Ten Sexiest Bachelors list (a completely in-house but valid poll) and left people gaping in his wake. Women all through the building went googly-eyed whenever Auggie's shirts and vests hugged that sculpted chest, or when his long sleeves were rolled up to expose well-defined forearms.

Yeah, Auggie was one fine piece of sexy, sexy man -

"Enjoying the view there, Walker?"

Annie jumped in shock at the sound of her best friend's chuckle. She hurriedly blinked and shook her head to clear it of inappropriate thoughts. "You done working out?"

"For the last ten minutes." He finished towelling his hair and hung the towel around his neck with a cocky grin. "See something you like?" he asked in an entirely too smug voice.

Trying to save what little dignity she had left, Annie deliberately injected a teasing note to her voice. "You should really talk to someone about those delusions of yours, Anderson. A less sympathetic person would report you to HR for sexual harassment."

"You would do that to me?" Auggie asked, adopting a wounded expression that rivalled her neices' best puppy-dog pouts.

"Lucky for you I'm a better friend than that. Besides, it's nearly time to report in."

"Thanks." His smile made her heart stop in its tracks. He grabbed his duffel bag, water bottle and laser cane, making his way towards the locker room. "I'll grab a shower and meet you upstairs," he said over his shoulder.

_Auggie...in the shower..._Averting her eyes from his retreating back, she said as steadily as possible, "I'll grab you a coffee."

"You're amazing, Walker."

"Better believe it."

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><p><strong>Review please!<strong>

**9...**


	43. Braille

**Disclaimer: I don't own _Covert Affairs._**

**Prompt #42: Braille - He took her finger and dragged it across the paper. "It takes practice, believe me."**

**Words: 447**

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><p>"Apple?"<p>

"Yeah, good job." Auggie smiled as he directed her fingertips to the next line of raised dots. "How about this one?"

"Um..." She sounded unsure, but focused. "Hmmm, that's a T...U...R..." She faltered, cleared her throat, and dragged her finger over the dots again. "M?"

Auggie shook his head. "No, N. They're similar, but there's another bump here." He showed her what he meant. "See?"

"Yeah. Sorta."

"Are your eyes still closed?"

"Yeah."

"Liar."

"I'm not looking at the page." And she wasn't, really. She was too busy looking at Auggie's face as it hovered over her shoulder.

"I know. I can feel your eyelashes against my cheek." Annie scowled and started to pull away, but the arms around her tightened to stop her. "Hey," Auggie protested, nuzzling her neck. "I never said I didn't like it."

"Auggie, that's distracting."

"You've done more delicate work when the room's blowing up around you. How is this distracting?"

She squirmed in his grasp, eyelids fluttering as he feathered kisses down her neck and behind her ear. "You know damn well why."

"I still wanna hear you say it."

"Because it's you," Annie admitted. She swallowed a moan as his lips pressed against her skin. "I've told you before, you're mesmerizing."

"And while that's always nice to hear, you said you wanted to learn Braille."

"So stop distracting me." Focusing on the bumps beneath her fingertips, Annie closed her eyes and slowly slid her finger along the word. "T...U...R...N..." she spelled aloud. "Turn. Okay, next word." She tilted her head away from Auggie's distracting lips and concentrated again. "A...R...O...U...N...D...around. Turn around?" Confused, she turned around and saw Auggie holding a small box out to her. A velvet jewelry box, about the size of a...

Taking the box from him, Annie flipped open the lid and frowned at the contents. "A dog tag?"

"That's right." Auggie pressed a kiss to her cheek and moved her index finger to swipe across the tag's cool metal surface. "Can you read this?"

Annie smiled as she felt the bumps. _I...L...O...V...E...U..._ "You're such a dork, you know that?"

"I warned you about that before you married me, if you'll recall."

She rolled her eyes, then added, "I'm rolling my eyes, Auggie."

"You love it, admit it."

"And make your ego swell even more? No way." But she still pressed a kiss to his lips. "You're incorrigible, you know that?"

His wide Cheshire cat smile was answer enough.

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><p><strong>Aren't they cute?<strong>

**Review please!**

**8...**


	44. Glass

**Disclaimer: I don't own _Covert Affairs_ or else those new episodes would be on NOW.**

**Prompt #43: Glass - He looked in her general direction with uncanny accuracy. "What d'you mean, my walls are see-through?"**

**Words: 758**

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><p>It really is in poor taste to tease the blind man. But when the blind man is a SERE-trained CIA operative with exceptional hearing and an uncanny ability to never flub up, it's not really that bad. After all, he's in no way, shape, or form, a normal blind man.<p>

So Annie had absolutely no guilty feelings about saying, "Bold fashion statement today, eh Auggie?"

The sight of his single raised eyebrow alone almost did her in. "Come again, Walker?"

She chuckled and plucked the collar of his shirt. "I didn't think anyone could pull off this color of neon green, but surprisingly you do it well. Especially paired with that hideous shade of mustard-yellow tie."

His eyes widened comically as his hands flew to the hem of his shirt to feel the Braille tag sewn on the inside. Quick as lightning his eyes narrowed in her general direction. "Ha ha ha, Walker. Very funny."

"I thought so," she admitted innocently, smiling wide.

"Stop smiling. It's not nice to tease the handicapped."

"Pfft. Handicapped, my ass."

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><p>Watching Auggie was fast becoming her favorite pastime. The easy way he moved around his apartment captivated her. Add a lack of shirt covering that perfectly sculpted chest of his, and her eyes were unabashedly glued to his every move.<p>

"You know I can feel you staring at me, right?"

_Damn him and his heightened senses. _But she had a sharp wit at her disposal, and it had a zinger ready for him. "You realize you left the front door open for that horny neighbor of yours to ogle, right?"

The cocky grin on his lips faltered slightly. His head slowly twisted to stare in the direction of his front door. The door that Annie had been sure to close behind her. "Please tell me you're joking," he mumbled. "That woman's got a nose like a bloodhound."

Annie giggled at the look of absolute terror on her handler's face. That made the joke come to light, and realization dawned over Auggie's features. "Low, Walker. Very low. Remember, payback's a bitch."

She childishly stuck out her tongue at him. "Bring it on, Anderson."

"Stick out your tongue again and I'm going to teach you the proper way to use it," he warned.

"In your dreams."

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><p>Several months after they first started dating, Annie could barely believe her eyes when Auggie held out a small velvet box to her and said, "I, um, I know we haven't been together for very long, you know, romantically, but um - "<p>

She stopped listening once the lid flipped open. Light hit the little ring within, making the diamond set in the silver band seem to glow. One hand reached up to cover her mouth as the other paused halfway to the box.

Then he said, "Anyway, Annie...can you put this on now? I got it on loan from Dexter and he wants to make sure it fits Clara's finger before he pops the question. Your ring finger's about the same size as hers, so..."

Annie's mouth dropped open in shock as she realized that she'd been duped. The smug grin of _Gotcha_ spreading across Auggie's face was nothing short of victorious. "You bastard," she gasped, astonished that he'd managed to get her so thoroughly.

He stuck out his tongue at her. "Like I said, payback's a bitch."

"Stick out your tongue again and I'm going to teach you the proper way to use it."

One eyebrow rose in blatant challenge. "That supposed to scare me?"

* * *

><p>"Hey, Auggie..."<p>

"Yeah?" When she hesitated, Auggie sat up straighter in his chair. "What? What, what is it?"

"Well...you _do _know that your office walls are made of glass, right?"

He gave her a flat stare and dryly replied, "Yes Annie, I've been aware of that fact for a couple years now."

"Good, just making sure."

"Why's that?"

Biting her lower lip, Annie took his hand and turned his palm to face up. She used her index finger to draw a plus sign on his skin, saying as she did, "Remember how you said there was only one thing I couldn't joke about?"

Auggie's face went completely slack. "Annie, are you really..."

"Yeah."

And in spite of his glass office walls, Auggie scooped his newly-pregnant wife up in his arms and kissed her soundly in front of God and the whole DPD amid thunderous applause.

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><p><strong>Review please!<strong>

**7...**


	45. Snitch

**Disclaimer: I don't own _Covert Affairs._**

**Prompt #44: Snitch - "You totally told on me, didn't you."**

**Words: 299**

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><p>"...She knows you're here."<p>

"It's Joan. I'm surprised it took her so long to realize it."

"Who do you think - "

"Clara. The girl is a world-class hacker, but Joan scares the absolute crap out of her."

"Great. Any brilliant ideas on how to get us out of trouble this time?"

"...Not really, love. Sorry."

"Thanks, soldier boy. And you're supposed to be the genius here?"

"You're the field agent, Annie. You're supposed to come up with brilliant plans on the fly."

"Well, I'm out of ideas. Sorry."

"..."

"..."

"...We're in trouble, aren't we."

"That's an understatement, Aug."

"Hey, we lived, we got the intel, and we averted an international incident. That's a good save in my book."

"Oh yeah, great save. Now I gotta explain to Joan and Arthur why you're out of the office again, in the field, again, and on an unsanctioned op - wait for it - _again."_

"...Tell them I stowed away on your carry-on."

"Hilarious. I'm rolling my eyes at you."

"Think they'll care that we got the intel?"

"I think they care more about the property damage."

"Hey, at least there wasn't a body count."

"Not funny."

"It was a little funny."

"..."

"...Someone's a little grumpy."

"You're oddly chipper."

"Well, I'm here, we saved our little bit of the world again, and we're in Paris. Aren't you gonna take me out on the town?"

*sigh* "Fine, I guess so. Might as well enjoy the city before they yank us back and fire us."

"Stop being so melodramatic. They're not gonna fire us. We're too valuable. Now go get changed. I wanna know if Paris has changed since I was last here."

*sigh*

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><p><strong>This did not turn out how I expected it would, but I still laughed at it. Enjoy!<strong>

**Review please!**

**6...**


	46. Hero

**Disclaimer: I don't own _Covert Affairs._**

**Prompt #45: Hero - He sometimes had to remind her of the good she did.**

**Words: 519**

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><p>She woke up within hours of her surgery. Her first words were, predictably, "What...happened?"<p>

Once he heard her voice, Auggie felt hot tears drip from his eyes as he gently kissed her hand over and over. He brokenly told her how the intel was discovered to be faulty, how they couldn't warn them in time, how the safe house had exploded and caught all three agents in the blast. How she and Dexter had made it to the operating room, while the other female agent - Amanda Marcus, Auggie had found out - had been DOA.

"I had a feeling something was wrong, but I thought I was being paranoid. Amanda swore she'd vetted the place thoroughly." Annie's voice sounded tired and guilty and all sorts of broken, her words harsh as sandpaper. "I should've checked it myself, but we were behind schedule..."

He could feel her guilt building in the tightening grip on his hand. "Annie, it wasn't your fault," he insisted.

"Isn't it?" she snapped bitterly. "Because I didn't listen to my gut, Amanda died, Dexter was badly injured, and the operation was a complete failure."

"No it wasn't!" Auggie objected. Leaning closer, he stared where he thought Annie's eyes were. "Hey, it wasn't a failure." He reached up to cradle her face and swiped the hot tears he found there away with his thumb. "You came back home to me. I'm certainly calling that a success."

"But - "

"No buts." He pressed a kiss to her protesting lips. "Nobody is blaming you for what happened. Joan knows you did the best you could to salvage the situation. If anything, you're a hero."

Annie scoffed derisively. "Hero."

"You _are_ a hero." Auggie held her hand next to his cheek and squeezed again. "Now you listen to me. The op was falling apart around your ears, and yet you managed to save almost twelve hundred people _and _haul an injured man out of a burning building."

"But Amanda - "

Auggie shook his head. "Amanda knew the risk. We all do. It's the risk we take every time we go out into the field. But you made it home alive. Your quick thinking saved Dexter's life, and I know Clara will be forever grateful to you for that."

"He'll probably never go out in the field again."

"It's better than never coming home again. That's a win, and you should take it.

He heard Annie sniffle once or twice as her face tilted to nuzzle his palm. "What would I ever do without you?" she whispered.

"Luckily you'll never know." _Not if I have any say in the matter_, he swore. "I'll be the light for you in dark places when all other lights go out."

"...Auggie?"

"Yeah?"

"Did you just quote _Return of the King _to me?"

His smirk grew cocky. "It seemed appropriate."

"You are such a geek," she stated, but Auggie was heartened to hear a giggle in her voice. "So you're my Eärendil?"

"Okay, now _that's _hot."

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><p><strong>Recently watched LotR: Return of the King again, and that line just stuck with me.<strong>

**Enjoy this chap, and please review!**

**5...**


	47. Bed

**Disclaimer: I don't own _Covert Affairs._**

**Prompt #46: Bed - A girl could get used to waking up with silk sheets and a sexy geek.**

**Words: 465**

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><p>"Annie. Annie, wake up."<p>

She hummed as she stretched her body to its full length in the large queen bed, feeling silken fabric slip against her skin. "Five more minutes," she mumbled.

The touch of lips on the back of her neck made her hum in pleasure. "Can't, Annie. We're almost late as it is," whispered a voice almost as heavy with sleep as her own.

"What time is it?"

"Almost eight AM."

"Late for what, then?" she muttered. "It's our day off. We don't have to be _anywhere_ today."

"You forget what today is already?"

Annie groaned and buried her head deeper in her pillow. "Can't we put it off for another hour or two?" She turned to glance up at Auggie and coyly added, "I can make it worth the delay..."

"You little minx," Auggie growled. He neatly flipped her on her back, pinning Annie and giving her a full view of his frustrated smirk and bare chest. "You're being difficult because you know I'm torn between having my way and taking you up on your offer."

"Maybe?"

"_You're _the one who said we should get an early start."

She rolled her eyes, a gesture completely lost on him but made her feel better anyway. "That was before last night. And yesterday's work fiasco. I just want to sleep it off."

"You know we've got orders."

"I know."

Their mumbled conversation was interrupted by the sound of little feet pounding the carpet of their hallway, followed by a bang as their bedroom door was flung open. Both agents sat up, but only Annie could see the little girl standing in the doorway, already fully dressed and holding her little pink Disney Princess suitcase. "C'mon Mommy, you said we hafta leave early to get to Disney World!" Excited green eyes stared at the two from under a tangled mop of chocolate brown curls that could have only come from the man in bed with Annie.

"Hanna, we can't leave yet. Daddy and I have to get dressed," Annie said with a smile. "And we need to have breakfast before we go to the airport - "

"I'll get breakfast ready! Hurry up!"

Auggie chuckled as Hanna tore out of her parents' room like a curly-haired cyclone. "You heard the boss."

Annie leaned her head on her husband's shoulder and sighed contentedly. "Yeah. Better get moving before she tries to bring us breakfast in bed again."

"Let's not repeat that natural disaster. These sheets are my nice ones."

"Yes, sir," she said with a grin, reaching up to catch his lips in a slow kiss.

Annie absently wondered if she'd ever get used to this.

She hoped she never would.

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><p><strong>Review please!<strong>

**4...**


	48. World

**Disclaimer: I don't own _Covert Affairs._**

**Prompt #47: World - There were some beautiful things out there, but nothing beat what was waiting at home.**

**Words: 492**

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><p>Another day, another op in another exotic city that saves the world from shadowy forces that no one will ever know. All in all, Annie is ready to get home and take some much-needed R&amp;R.<p>

One quick flight back to D.C. and an hour of exhausting paperwork later, she's pulling up to her home. The front light is on, showing that Auggie had arrived first. A smile grows across Annie's tired lips; she's missed him immensely. Hell, she's missed everything about her home. She unlocks the front door and calls out, "I'm home!"

"Hey superhero," comes his familiar reply. "I'm in the kitchen. You hungry?"

"Famished." Kicking off her shoes into a corner, Annie shucks off her suit jacket and reaches up to pull out her ponytail. "What's for dinner?"

"Grilled cheese. Hanna heard you had lots of rain in Brazil and insisted that you have a nice warm dinner."

Annie's grin grows wider. "Well, if the boss insists." She finds Auggie standing by the stove, spatula in hand, nudging two browning sandwiches around in the frying pan. "Need help there, Daredevil?"

"I'm good. You should see what our little Girl Wonder is up to. It's been far too quiet for far too long."

"Okay." Pressing a kiss to his cheek, she inhales the deliciously mingled scents of Auggie and grilled cheese. "I'm coming back for that," she promised.

"The sandwich or me?" Annie holds her tongue, letting him think about her answer. The wide grin on his face tells her that he's chosen option two. "Hold you to that, babe."

Annie walks barefoot up the stairs towards her daughter's room. The door is wide open, providing a perfect view of the six-year-old girl sitting at the kiddie painting easel. "Hanna Verity Anderson, where are you up to now?"

Her daughter turns around and gasps at seeing her home. "Mommy!" Hanna screams as she jumps up and barrels straight into her mother's arms. "You're home!"

"Yes I am, just like I promised." Annie kisses the top of her curly brown head, glancing at the half-finished painting on the easel. "That looks new."

"Making it for you. Don't look!" Hanna quickly moves back and tries to block Annie from seeing it. "Not done yet!"

Annie laughs as she covers her eyes. "Okay, okay, not looking. Daddy's got dinner ready. Go wash up."

She hears Hanna's laughter turn into a delighted squeal as Auggie picks her up and spins her around in his arms. Nothing in the world came anywhere close to sounding as beautiful - Auggie's exact words every time. Standing in the doorway of the kitchen, she watches Auggie spin their daughter in the air and laugh along with her.

No place in the world is more beautiful than the sight of her husband and daughter. Her family.

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><p><strong>Review please!<strong>

**3...**


	49. Covert

**Disclaimer: I don't own _Covert Affairs_, but the OCs are mine.**

**Prompt #48: Covert - They were - until the need to be no longer existed.**

**Words: 728**

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><p>Annie and Auggie never revealed their relationship to their coworkers, keeping it close to the vest for a variety of reasons. They couldn't risk being separated from each other if relations between agent and handler were not allowed. With the amount of risk in their profession, secrecy also kept their enemies from using either Annie or Auggie as leverage against each other. Not to mention it was kind of fun keeping it a secret from their coworkers as long as they had.<p>

So they believed, anyway.

* * *

><p>When the majority of Langely that were in the know discovered that Auggie Anderson and Annie Walker had finally hooked up, you can bet there was some hardcore celebratory cheer at Allen's that night. The now-oceanic pool was finally settled, with all bets covered accordingly, and a new one took its place - how long before they made it public?<p>

The good money was on soon. If they'd taken four years to act on the attraction that everyone else had picked up on during the first month, who _knew _how long it would take for the pair to decide to announce their relationship to everyone else. A few brave souls set down money on a specific stretch of time. Others put their money on situational reveals - on an op, caught in the act, that sort of thing.

Clara Piper was not one of those people. Nor was she a gambling soul by any stretch of the imagination. Instead of indulging in the pool, she merely sipped her beer and ran the facts in her head.

Maintaining a relationship with a covert operative under the radar is difficult even when you're also a highly-trained operative. It's even more difficult when you work in the CIA, which is full of highly-trained intelligence gatherers who spread office gossip worse than an old ladies' bridge club.

Auggie valued his privacy. It was a defining aspect of his personality, and he guarded his long-term relationships fiercely. Add to that he'd fallen in love with his best friend, and that protective instinct increased tenfold. If Annie said she wanted to keep whatever they had between them, her handler would never betray that trust.

Annie's privacy was also her most well-known personality trait. Rarely were any details of her personal life made public knowledge. Taking into account that she'd fallen in love with her best friend and handler, and her need for privacy was exponentially compounded. If Auggie wanted to keep their relationship secret, then she would go through interrogation in Russia all over again before giving up a single detail.

"You look like you're pondering the problems of the world," said Dexter Hill as he slid into the booth beside her.

"Just thinking."

He put a fresh beer in front of his handler and sipped his own drink. "Penny for your thoughts, Clara?"

She shot him a look paired with a small smirk. "You bet on Annie and Auggie's relationship, didn't you?"

"Of course not. That would be juvenile and self-serving and completely pointless."

"How much money?"

"Two hundred, but only because I know I'm gonna win."

Clara rolled her eyes and lightly punched his arm. "That's the excuse given by every gambler in creation."

"But I have an in."

"So do I. I happen to know that neither of them are going to spill the beans unless Joan personally walks up and demands to know if they're sharing a bunk."

Dexter slung his arm around her and pulled her close to press a small kiss to her temple. "Well I happen to know that your boss is starting to look for a certain type of ring for a certain agent of our mutual acquaintance."

"...You're splitting half that pot with me."

* * *

><p>As it happened, the pot was settled in very short order.<p>

When Annie and Auggie arrived later than usual one day, every agent and analyst instantly zeroed in on the small but elegant diamond catching light on Annie's ring finger. Dexter let out a whoop of victory amid the _congratulations_ and _we're so happy for you both's _that surrounded the couple.

The money had barely cooled from changing hands before someone said, "Okay, baby pool time. Boy or girl?"

Clara rolled her eyes.

* * *

><p><strong>Not sure about this one, but I still like it.<strong>

**Review please!**

**2...**


	50. Languages

**Disclaimer: I don't own _Covert Affairs._**

**Prompt #49: Languages - "Would it be too corny to say you have a talented tongue?"**

**Words: 589**

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><p>"<em>Oui. Mais oui. Oui, c'est vrai.<em>" Auggie sleepily stretched his entire body like a cat, listening with some interest to Annie's half of the phone call. _"Pardonne, une moment."_

A moment of silence, then he heard, "_Si?_" She listened for a few seconds, then said, "_No. Cinco, cinco cajas negras_. _Uno momento, por favor._" Again she switched calls. "I'm tryin' to swing things here, suga," she drawled in a perfect Southern drawl. "It'd be awful sweet of ya to send just a smidge more help, don't you think?"

A slow smile unfurled across Auggie's face as she switched between calls and languages. One hand reached over to lightly trace down her spine. The effect was immediate - Annie sat up ramrod-straight and twisted her torso, one hand grabbing his wrist in a crushing grip that would have broken an ordinary man's bones. "Relax," he said softly. "It's just me, love."

"Don't distract me." He felt her turn back to her phone conversations. "_Monsieur? Oui, c'est parfait. Merci._" She paused, cleared her throat, and spoke again. "_Moshi moshi, Sakura-san? Hontōni? Sore wa subarashīdesu! Arigatō!_" The way she spoke told Auggie that she was smiling widely. "Who's good? Who's good?" she asked in her normal voice.

"You're good," Auggie said good-naturedly. "Was that Sakura-san, possibly, Sakura Ise the wetwork agent who helped you in Okinawa two years ago?"

"The very same."

"And the Spanish caller?"

"Solange. She's in town for the next few days, I wanted to call her up and ask a favor."

Another familiar name in the spy game. The barest beginnings of a frown pressed at his lips and between his eyes. "And the French Connection?"

"That was Monsieur Boucher."

That made Auggie sit up with a puzzled frown. "Annie, what's got you calling at least three well-known operatives this early in the morning?"

"Trying to negotiate help for our daughter's Sweet Sixteen."

"They're helping you plan Hanna's birthday?" Those would not be the first people he called to plan a Sweet Sixteen party. Maybe to overthrow and knock off a dictator, but not plan a party.

Annie's smile was evident as she pressed her lips to his cheek. "They've been wonderful. I didn't think we'd get a DJ on such short notice, but Solange's cousin was able to shuffle his schedule around to make it. Boucher's niece runs a catering service and she's agreed to stock and work the buffet table. And Sakura has a sister who can help Hanna with her hair and makeup and nails." When Auggie shook his head in disbelief, she swatted his shoulder. "They weren't my first calls. I just didn't want to ask Joan for too much. She's working on putting together her son's graduation party."

"Only you would think to activate a spy phone tree to find last-minute help for our daughter's birthday." But it was a loving tease, and Auggie heard her laugh in response. "What does that leave for little old me to do?"

"Well, you could tell me I've done a good job..."

"You need me to tell you that?" Annie snuggled next to him as he rubbed her back. "Good wifey. Clever wifey."

He could practically _hear _her eyeballs rolling in their sockets. "You are a crazy _pendejo,_ you know that?"

"You know, even when you curse, it's sexy."

* * *

><p><strong>After a long absence, an update!<strong>

**Review please! Next up is the finale!**

**1...**


	51. Complete

**Disclaimer: I don't own _Covert Affairs._**

**Prompt #50: Complete - Agent and handler, best friends, and after some time in denial, the only ones who could ever hope to fill the void in their hearts.**

**Words: 915**

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><p>"Let's go, let's go, let's go!"<p>

Gunfire was erupting all around as Annie raced down the cramped alleyway, holding on to Auggie's hand for dear life. The stolen intel was safely tucked in her jacket pocket, her snub-nose revolver was out and providing cover fire.

"Duckng left!" she shouted as she dragged him into a nearby doorway. Auggie swore as he almost tripped on the turn, but he recovered well enough.

BANG!

"Ugh!" Auggie grunted as his hand was torn from hers. Annie whirled around and saw the curly-haired man was down on his knees, one hand clutching the gunshot wound in his abdomen. She shot the attacker in his heart and quickly made her way back to Auggie.

"It's okay, it's okay," she mumbled, applying pressure to Auggie's wound. "You'll be fine, Auggie. I promise, you'll be fine."

He gave a wet, choked chuckle. "You still can't lie for shit, Walker. Oooh..." He leaned into Annie and went rigid. "Ugh, maybe I should lie down..."

"Don't!" Annie clutched him close, as if hoping her grip would keep him from leaving her. "Don't you dare, Auggie. Don't you dare leave me alone here."

She couldn't do this without them. They were Annie and Auggie. They were a pair. She couldn't go without him. She _wouldn't_.

"Wouldn't...dream...of...it..." But his unseeing eyes were already sliding shut, his chest taking slower and slower breaths. Tense muscles relaxed far too quickly. Under her desperately groping fingers, she could feel his heartbeat slowing down.

"Auggie? Auggie!" Annie cried out his name with increasing panic. "Auggie, don't go! Don't leave me!"

He never responded. She kept screaming his name long after he stopped breathing and went limp in her arms. The pain of her broken heart was so unbearable, she never felt the bullet that tore through her chest.

* * *

><p>"<em>ANNIE!<em>"

The sharp cry of her name dragged Annie from her nightmare and sent her flying into a pair of warm, strong, familiar arms. "Annie, sweetheart, breathe. It's okay, you're okay. You're safe."

She buried her face in his chest, pressing her ear against the reassuring pounding of his heartbeat. "You're not dead."

"Nope. Still alive and kickin'." His hand rubbed between her shoulder blades comfortingly. "Bad dream?"

"The worst."

"Care to share?"

She swallowed down the residual horror and concentrated on remaining in the now. "We were out in the field. You were shot and died."

Auggie's arms tightened around her in silent reassurance. "Sucky way to wake up on Christmas."

"Yeah, no kidding."

"...Can you believe it's been ten years?"

"Since when?" Annie glanced at the sleep-softened face of the man beside her.

His chuckle was both a reprimand and a tease. "Don't play coy, Annie. You know exactly what I'm talking about."

"Yeah, I do." She snuggled closer into his side and pressed a kiss to his shoulder. "Ten years since my eyes first caught a flash of green laser and the geek attached to it."

"Ten years since I first caught a whiff of subtly-spritzed Jo Malone Grapefruit." He nosed into her hair and took a deep breath. "Ah, still that lovely hint of grapefruit and super secret agent."

"Flattery will get you nowhere, Mr. Anderson."

"Oh, but I'm just where I need to be." The mattress shifted beside him, alerting Auggie that she was trying to make a break for the door. His arms wrapped around her waist to keep her from escaping. "And you are as well."

"But we need to - "

"Whatever it is, it can wait. I want to give you your Christmas present first, Mrs. Anderson." He nuzzled into her neck and hummed, smiling when she squirmed in his grasp. "Shhhh. Mustn't wake the little darling just yet."

With a frustrated moan, Annie buried her face in his chest again. "Hanna."

"Yeah, Hanna. Any second now, our dear little girl is going to barrel past the door right for her pile of presents under that plastic monstrosity you dare to call a tree..."

"MOMMY! DADDY!" The piercing shriek of an excited kindergartener was enough to make the two CIA agents sit straight up in bed. "SANTA CLAUS WAS HERE! LOOK LOOK, COME LOOK!"

Annie groaned again at her daughter's less-than-perfect timing. "If you gave her that god-awful Frozen sing-along DVD, I will drop-kick your skinny beanpole ass."

"That'd be a feat, drop-kicking your SERE-trained secret agent husband."

With Auggie peppering kisses across her jaw and at the corners of her lips, he was making it very difficult for Annie to keep her argument straight in her head. "I - I'm serious," she gasped breathlessly. "Unless you want our five-year-old daughter singing "Let It Go" all day."

"Personally I like the snowman's song. It's chipper and silly."

"Then I trust _you _will be Hanna's karaoke partner today?"

"Aren't I always?" The man dared to smirk as he kissed her, full and hard and passionate. "Well, Annie Anderson, shall we begin Operation Christmas?"

"I'm ready when you are," Annie smiled as she kissed him back. "Merry Christmas, Auggie."

"Merry Christmas, Annie."

Hand in hand, the pair ventured out of their room and faced the day. As they always did, and they always would.

Together.

* * *

><p><strong>Hurray! The completion of yet another compilation! Merry Christmas to all of you, readers and followers!<strong>

**Review please, and have a wonderful New Year!**


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